


Black Ocean

by pinkuyu



Category: EXO (Band), NCT (Band), SEVENTEEN (Band), SHINee, SuperM (Korea Band), VIXX
Genre: A Severe Lack of Communication, Action, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood and Violence, Dissociation, Fluff, Hakyeon can't catch a break, Headaches & Migraines, Hurt/Comfort, Minor Character Death, Not Beta Read, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sickfic, Taemin has some BOTTLED UP emotions, Torture, Trust Issues, Vernon just wants to take a chemistry class, dont be scared by the MCD tag when i say minor i mean MINOR, hand-wavy science, lucas gets sensory overload sometimes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-01 16:46:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 29
Words: 101,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23600287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinkuyu/pseuds/pinkuyu
Summary: Lucas heard the whispers and murmurs about the new project. Something about Lee Sooman wanting a supergroup. He hadn’t expected to wake up on an operation table with God knows what being injected into his arm as medics rambled on about his physique meeting the criteria and mentioned the others they had their eye on. He remembered being horrified upon finding out that three of the other subjects were from his sector. They were familiar faces which only brought a fraction of relief after finding out that while some experiences were shared, others were...different.
Relationships: Cha Hakyeon | N/Jung Taekwoon | Leo, Choi Seungcheol | S.Coups/Hong Jisoo | Joshua, Choi Seungcheol | S.Coups/Hong Jisoo | Joshua/Yoon Jeonghan, Choi Seungcheol | S.Coups/Yoon Jeonghan, Hong Jisoo | Joshua/Yoon Jeonghan, Lee Seokmin | DK/Xu Ming Hao | The8
Comments: 85
Kudos: 173





	1. Escape

Pen scratching on a clipboard. The loud buzzing of lights. Muffled speech through a thick layer of glass. Feet shuffling against a tiled floor. The grating sound of metal against metal as a door slides open. 

Lucas lifted his eyes from the floor in time to see a body flung his way by two guards clad in red. He took a moment to stabilize himself as the unexpected weight threw him off balance.

“M’sorry.” the boy mumbled before rising to his feet, wobbling a bit. He raised his head and Lucas was met with a pair of sunken eyes. Lucas opened his mouth to respond as a bell rang over the intercom.

“Taeyong, to your position.” a voice said.

Lucas let his hand fall off of Taeyong’s forearm and watched as he made his way to the center of the room. Lucas briefly glanced at the other five in the room. All of their eyes were glazed over as they stared at nothing in particular, except for one whose nervous eyes flickered back and forth atop his otherwise neutral expression. By now, they’d all found out the hard way that these experiments ended sooner if they listened to the directions given to them with no hesitation or apparent second thought. Lucas could still remember the first time they were brought to this all too familiar room. 

He heard the whispers and murmurs about some new project being worked on. Something about Lee Sooman wanting a supergroup of sorts. He hadn’t expected to wake up on an operation table with God knows what being injected into his arm as medics rambled on about his physique meeting the criteria and mentioned the others they had their eye on. The first few experiments had been hell. He’d been isolated for days, or weeks, for all he knew. The days merged together in an incomprehensible blur of receiving bland rations and being forced to stay awake. He remembered being horrified upon finding out that three of the other subjects were from his sector. They were familiar faces which only brought a fraction of relief after finding out that while some experiences were shared, others were...different.

An ear-piercing scream snapped Lucas back to reality. Too focused on the sharp pain he had running through his head and neck, he hardly realized it belonged to him. Hot tears pricked at the corners of his eyes as he pressed his hands against his head, as if trying to keep it from splitting in two. The pain began to subside and he stayed there for a moment, desperately trying to catch his breath. He opened his eyes and turned his head enough to see the rest of the room carefully as to not aggravate his headache. Through his blurry vision, he saw Taeyong clutching at his sides and letting out shuddering breaths. A few of the others were hunched over, Kai barely remaining upright, one hand to his ribs and the other on his right knee. The intercom cut in with static before a voice filled the room. 

“Again,” the voice ordered.

Taeyong straightened his posture. He exhaled deeply through his nose and closed his eyes, waiting. Lucas blinked away his tears and stared straight ahead through the thick glass separating him and the others from the lab workers. He tried to make out what they’re saying but failed, due to his growing migraine. The bell sounds again.

Blood-curdling screams. Sparks. A blinding white light. Then nothing.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Kai shakily raised himself to his knees, holding himself up with one arm on the ground. His other hand traveled in circles, grasping for anything. He opened his mouth to call for one of the others but was interrupted by his own harsh cough. A siren resounded through the air, its red light shining through the thick swirls of smoke. Kai felt his hand bump into something warm. He tapped it again and was met with a pained hiss. 

“Taemin?” Kai asked. He leaned closer to the body and squinted, trying to see through the haze.

Taemin’s eyes were screwed shut and a warm stream of red began to make its way down his temple. 

“Hey, hey. Are you with me?” Kai carefully brushed Taemin’s bangs from his face and placed his hand on his shoulder, lightly tapping it, earning a light groan in response.

Kai scanned the rest of the room. Through the smoke, he could make out the fuzzy silhouettes of the rest of the members. They were all down aside from one who has now made his way to a standing position. The telltale blonde streaks in his dark hair gave away his identity. 

“Mark!” Kai called before breaking into another coughing fit. The boy hurriedly made his way over to Kai and Taemin. 

“Are-” Mark paused and coughed into his elbow, “Are you okay?” he finished, his expression laced with concern upon seeing Taemin. 

“I’m fine, but Taemin- well, first we have to get out of here. I don’t know how many I can take though so if you could help me…” Kai trailed off. Mark’s eyebrows furrowed as he whipped his head around looking for the other members. “You’ve never tried moving more than two, much less to a far distance. Are you sure?” Mark asked.

“Anything is better than this and we’re running out of time.” Kai quickly spat out after noticing some of the workers on the other side of the now shattered glass barrier waking up.

“Get Taeyong and Ten,” Kai ordered, already moving to gather the other bodies.

Mark nodded and departed to retrieve the other two, becoming increasingly more anxious as the workers stumbled around calling for guards. Mark hooked his arms under Taeyong’s armpits and dragged him back to where Ten laid before looking around for Kai, who had one arm slung over Taemin and Baekhyun with his other around Lucas. 

“Go! We’ll find you soon!” Kai yelled, barely audible above the siren.

“Where?” Mark dragged Ten and Taeyong closer to the others before collapsing onto the ground.

“The Eastern Forest! We’ll figure the rest out later, go!” Before Mark could respond, Kai and the other three disappeared into thin air. 

“Okay-” Mark scanned the area.

Through the now thin smoke, he spotted five delirious lab workers, none of which spotted him but were calling his and the other members’ names.

Right outside of the broken glass barrier was a tipped over metal storage cabinet, surrounded by various boxes and fractured glass containers of unnamed substances that had been knocked off the top. It seemed a bit small and to get to it he’d have to get by one of the lab workers, but it was now or never. 

Completely graceless, Mark wrapped his left arm around Ten’s torso and his right around Taeyong and hauled them over towards the cabinet, grunting a quiet apology as he saw their legs dragging against the glass-covered floor. He practically flung Taeyong into the open, thankfully almost empty, cabinet, and then fell in himself with Ten on top of him before bending both of their legs in order to fit. He moved from beneath Ten and quickly shut the doors, seeing two guards charge towards him from across the lab through the thin crack. Mark squeezed his eyes shut with his arms around Ten and Taeyong, praying to nobody, in particular, to just be able to get _away_. 

And he supposed he did, after calming down and noticing that everything had gone silent. Or not quite.

There was a distant humming of a fan, but not much else. Mark opened his eyes to darkness, and to his relief, still felt both Ten and Taeyong next to him. But they were...vertical, to Mark’s surprise. More so with him standing with a slight hunch to his shoulders and the other two slumped over against the other wall, but vertical nonetheless. He ran his hand along the back of the cabinet and felt smooth polished wood instead of metal. He tried to straighten his back but exclaimed when his head hit the bottom of a shelf. Ah, that wasn’t there before, neither were the coats hanging across from him. He quickly tensed when he heard shuffling outside the cabinet, then a pause before the doors were flung open and Mark found himself and the other two landing on a concrete floor with a thud.

“Ow, shit.” he hissed as the corners of his vision began to blur. He heard faint footsteps grow closer and met the gaze of two sharp eyes before succumbing to unconsciousness.


	2. New Faces

“I don’t know…..just fell out….tried to patch them up a bit but….”

Ten groaned as he awoke, his eyelids slowly dragging open. Through his hazy vision, the first thing he took note of was the white light bulb in the center of the ceiling that lit the room. There were no windows, instead, the walls were solid concrete. He went to raise a hand to rub his eyes but stopped, realizing it was cuffed to the bedpost. The voices came to an abrupt stop and Ten noticed two men staring at him. One of the men was about Lucas’s height, while the other was a few inches taller and wore a black eyepatch over his left eye.

“I’ll get Hakyeon.” said the taller man before swiftly leaving the room. 

The remaining man approached the side of the bed and stayed there, glaring. Ten shifted uncomfortably under his unwavering gaze, then froze upon seeing the thin silver lined needle point dagger clutched in the man’s hold. 

“Where am I?” Ten hesitantly asked.

The man remained silent, his icy glare boring through him. This went on for only a few more seconds as Ten heard someone knocking against the doorframe. Another man entered the room, presumably the aforementioned ‘Hakyeon’, drying his thick, chestnut brown hair with a fluffy white towel. 

“Taekwoon, stop that, you’re gonna scare him,” Hakyeon said. He came up behind Taekwoon, who finally broke eye contact with Ten after the man began rubbing circles on the nape of his neck.

“Now,” the man continued, “would you like to tell me how you appeared in our wardrobe?”

“How I-...what?” Ten stuttered.

“Can’t hear or somethin’? He asked how you ended up in our closet.” a deep voice spat. 

Ten whipped his head to the direction of the voice. Ten hadn’t noticed the thin, bony man watching from a dark corner of the room. He plopped down on the stool next to the bed, swearing as Hakyeon smacked him on the back of his head with his towel.

“Mind your manners,” said Hakyeon before shoving the thin man aside and taking a seat. His lips were pulled into a warm smile that Ten would’ve thought was genuine had it not been for his fox-like eyes focused on him as though he were able to see within Ten’s mind. 

“Pay no attention to him, now do you remember anything at all?” Hakyeon asked.

Ten’s eyes narrowed as he tried to recount the series of events. He had been pushed past the door with ‘101’ engraved onto it and ushered further into the large bright tiled room. The others filed in one by one after the workers attached them to the main console with translucent wires. A bell sounded through the air and the last thing Ten felt was a surge of energy that came as quickly as it left him. 

“Yes...but I don’t know how I got here. We were in the lab and they were running some tests and then I blacked out but maybe-” Ten looked frantically around the room then back to his cuffed wrist. “Where are they?” 

“Who?” Hakyeon asked with caution.

“Mark and Lucas a-and Taemin-” Ten began before Hakyeon raised a hand to stop him, all traces of his smile having now faded into a slight frown.

“What did you just say?” he questioned. Ten remained silent, failing to come up with a response and internally crumbling as he realized that this could be another test, his memory being wiped as a team of experts record and analyze every word that slips from his mouth.

“How do you know Taemin?” Hakyeon pressed.

“Are we in SM’s headquarters? Do you work for SM?” Ten countered. A mistake.

In the blink of an eye, Ten felt something cold pressed against his throat. He glanced up to see Taekwoon towering over him, putting a bit of pressure behind the dagger after a few more seconds of silence, not hard enough to draw blood but as a definite warning.

“He’s a part of the project, the Super M project. He’s a friend of mine but I don’t know where he is. I don’t know where any of them are.” Ten blurted out. Hakyeon met the thin man’s eyes and with a short wave of his hand that Ten nearly missed, the thin man nodded and raised himself from his sitting position then left the room.

“I’ll...look into that more but for now...” Hakyeon snapped his fingers and to Ten’s relief, Taekwoon lowered the dagger. 

“The other two are still asleep, unfortunately, they’re in a worse state than you are. I'd be lying if I said I wasn’t interested in how over the course of our little conversation, this has healed up.” said Hakyeon, lightly patting Ten’s leg.

“What?” Ten raised his head and looked at the spot Hakyeon tapped. There was a thin, faded scar running from right below his knee to halfway down his calf. 

“This was much deeper when you fell out of the wardrobe. It was bleeding quite a lot and ruined my carpet...but aside from that, now it's like it was never there. Isn’t that just fascinating, Taekwoon?” Hakyeon said, hardly concealing the bitterness in his tone.

Hakyeon continued without waiting for Taekwoon’s response, “Hongbin may not be able to hold his tongue but I suppose he knows his fair share about painkillers if you weren’t able to notice the gash in your leg.” Hakyeon gave Ten a once-over then met his eyes again, tilting his head. 

“How did you do that, exactly?” Hakyeon asked. Despite the smile returning to his face, something cold dripped from his tone that Ten couldn’t place his finger on. 

“I-” Ten began. Three loud knocks interrupted him. The man with the eyepatch leaned into the room and didn’t spare a glance at Ten, instead focusing on Hakyeon.

“One of ‘em is up.”


	3. Cabinets and Wardrobes

Mark’s eyes snapped open and the incessant poking to his cheek stopped. He didn’t move for a moment, frozen with a mix of fear and confusion. He was in the lab, then the cabinet, and-

“Hey.”

Mark glanced around the room and immediately flinched away from the man on the side of the bed he was laid out on, and instantly regretted it. He fell back onto the mattress as a searing pain was now apparent in the side of his torso, shoulder, and ankle. He carefully bent his neck forward as much as he could without moving his shoulder and examined his wounds. There were burns making its way from his elbow to a few inches past his shoulder, creeping up onto his collarbone, and his ankle was red and swollen.

“Yeah, you probably should just stay still for now, you got _fucked up_ , dude. There probably won’t be too much scarring though.” the man said, turning his attention back to the tablet propped up on a stand atop the wooden desk next to the bed, then continued.

“I remember when I got burned like that, the bastard got me with a frying pan and it left a circle on my back for a little more than a month. Looked pretty dumb...”

Mark, not paying much attention to the rest of the details the man rambled on about afterward, nervously took a quick peek at the screen, expecting the man to have been taking notes, or recording some sort of results, but instead there was a simple drawing of a cartoon head with black fluffy hair and a large nose.

“It's you. How is it?” the man asked. Mark couldn’t bring himself to reply, still struggling to breathe through the previous spurt of pain and taking in the unfamiliar surroundings. The man cocked his head to the side and leaned back from the drawing, scanning it for flaws.

“Ah,” he sighed, “right.” He hunched back over the tablet with his stylus and after a few swift flicks of his wrist, removed the tablet from the stand and held it facing towards Mark. Two blonde streaks were added to the mass of hair and there was a messy signature in the bottom right corner.

“Ta-da~” the man beamed. His smile slightly faded at the lack of reaction.

“Is something wrong with it?” he asked.

“Um, no, I...I mean, it’s- uh, yeah no, looks good, uh where exactly am I-” Mark struggled to speak past his shock and before he could finish, was interrupted by the light knocking on a door and a voice.

“The nose is too big.” The voice belonged to a rather tall man with an eyepatch covering his eye, standing in the doorframe, staring at the tablet.

“It’s my _art style_ , Sanghyuk. You’d understand if you were an artist.” the man said, earning a glare from Sanghyuk. 

“Don’t say my name in front of him, idiot,” said Sanghyuk. The man at the desk scoffed and gestured towards Mark’s burned shoulder, ankle, then the handcuff that Mark hadn’t yet noticed clamped around his wrist. 

“What’s he gonna do? Look at him. Anyway, he’s not going anywhere any time soon so might as well introduce ourselves,” the man turned to Mark and held out his hand, “I’m Jaehwan, and that’s Sanghyuk. Oh right, the handcuffs- anyway who are you?” Jaehwan retracted his arm and propped it up on the arm of the chair he was sitting in.

“Uh...Mark.” Mark replied.

“How’d you end up here?” Jaehwan asked, his eyes gleaming with amusement. 

“Right, well, um-” 

“I’m going to get Hakyeon,” said Sanghyuk, turning on his heel and leaving the room.

“Ugh, he’s so-...” Jaehwan made a motion in the air similar to choking someone, then clenched his fists and let them fall to his sides. Mark gulped and deeply inhaled before speaking.

“If...if you don’t mind me asking, where am I? And there were two others I came here with, do you...do you know if they’re okay?” Mark asked, his voice growing quieter the longer he spoke.

Jaehwan didn’t respond for a few seconds, instead letting out a small chuckle. He lifted his eyes from the floor to look at Mark and smirked. 

“I don’t know if I can tell you where this is yet, that’s up to the big boss, but the other two are fine. Well, as fine as you are. One of them isn’t too bad but the other one isn’t looking too good.” Jaehwan said, a smile playing at his lips but there wasn’t any trace of his previously bright tone.

“What do you mean?” Mark asked, a million thoughts traveling through his thoughts, all winding around in different paths but leading to the same, unfavorable scenario.

“I’ll let him tell you,” said Jaehwan, nodding towards the door. After three knocks, two men entered the room. The first man had a white towel slung over one shoulder and his hair appeared slightly damp, but his loose button-up shirt and jeans were both wrinkle-free. The man behind him was a few inches taller, with shoulder-length black hair. Mark’s eyes trailed from the man’s sharp glare down to the dagger in his hand. Just as Mark had the passing thought of this man probably being said “big boss”, the other one spoke.

“Hello, i’m Hakyeon, this is Taekwoon. Don’t worry about him, he won’t hurt you unless...well, you won’t need to worry about that, I hope,” said Hakyeon, walking around the side of the bed and stopping next to Jaehwan’s desk. Jaehwan snorted and crossed his arms.

“That’s not true, he’s the one that got me with the frying- oof!” Taekwoon quickly spun the chair away from the bed and tilted it forward, successfully causing Jaehwan to slide forward and land on the floor.

“Rude,” Jaehwan mumbled before rising to his feet and walking around the bed to take a seat next to Mark’s uninjured side.

As if nothing happened, Hakyeon sat down in the chair and folded his hands, resting his elbows on his knees as he leaned forward to see Mark’s burn. For a split second, Mark thought he could see a slight frown on Hakyeon’s face, but it left as soon as it came and was replaced by a soft grin. 

“Good news. One of your friends, I presume, is awake. He gave me a general idea of your situation but isn’t able to recall a few details. He says he remembers being in a lab then waking up here, but not much of anything else. Would you be able to fill in anything in between?” Hakyeon asked. Mark felt it more as a demand than a question but didn’t comment on it.

“I guess I’m the reason we got here, but it was an accident, really, it was. I wasn’t planning to go anywhere in particular just away from there.” Mark said. 

“Which is how you ended up in our closet? What, did you teleport?” Jaehwan lifted an eyebrow and snickered, ignoring the disapproving look Taekwoon sent him. 

“Well, yes, actually…” Mark said, only continuing after he grew uncomfortable from the following silence, “It’s not necessarily teleportation, it’s more like..a portal thing, I guess? Like, as long there’s a capsule, I can either transport myself or objects.”

More silence.

“You said my friend was awake, is he okay? Can I see him?” Mark pleaded.

Hakyeon tapped his finger against his knuckle, his brows now knitted together. 

“One last question and I’ll allow you to see him,” Hakyeon stated.

“Your friend mentioned someone by the name of Taemin. What was his last name?” he asked.

Mark’s eyes flickered back and forth as he was reminded of the other four, he had no idea where they had gone. Kai mentioned the Eastern Forest but for all Mark knew, Kai may have made the same mistake he did in the midst of his panic. They could be anywhere and here Mark was, handcuffed to a bed and being interrogated by a group of strangers that may or may not kill him on the spot. It couldn’t do much harm answering, Mark supposed, if he was lucky, these people could help him. Worst case, well, Mark would rather be killed than repeat SM’s initiation process so might as well give this a shot.

“Lee,” Mark said, “Lee Taemin.”

A moment’s silence.

Mark couldn’t decipher the emotion on Hakyeon’s face. On the surface, his expression appeared neutral and calm, but there was something behind it that he couldn’t pinpoint. Sadness? Acceptance? He didn’t have time to analyze it further as Hakyeon rose to his feet and stepped away from the bed.

“Well, I'm a man of my word. Jaehwan, bring his friend here. Taekwoon, keep an eye on them. We wouldn’t want Jaehwan to give them a migraine on top of everything else.” Hakyeon said with a forced smile. 

“Hakyeon-” Taekwoon said, barely louder than a whisper.

His voice was much more gentle and soft than Mark initially expected. Hakyeon rubbed the back of Taekwoon’s neck, more for his own comfort than for the latter, then sent him a small but genuine grin, before meeting eyes with Mark again and exiting the room leaving the air with tension thick enough to cut with Taekwoon’s dagger.


	4. Changing Seasons

Sunlight reflected off the clusters of leaves swirling down onto the soft, grassy forest floor. A particularly large leaf swooped back and forth, the tip grazed the top of the neat pile as a large gust blew them back into the air. 

“Jeonghan, did you see that?” Jun beamed. 

He spun around to see the reaction of the man behind him. Jeonghan exhaled lightly through his nose and smiled at the younger. He took a step towards Jun and flicked away a stray leaf that found its way into Jun’s hair.

“Mhm.” he hummed, “What are you gonna do once winter comes around?”

Jun blew a raspberry and continued walking ahead of Jeonghan, “I dunno. Snow is hard to move, it’s too…” Jun rubbed his palms together as he searched for the word, “it’s too heavy.” Jun held up a branch for Jeonghan to pass under then ducked under it himself.

“Leaves move so freely but once snow hits the ground it just sits there. Blizzards are fun though, it's like a ride.” Jun said.

“Some ride. I wish we could go to one, an amusement park.” said Jeonghan. He brushed a stray hair behind his ear and breathed in the sweet yet delicate smell of the forest. Birds chirped in the high branches of trees, filling the air with a soft melody.

“Yeah, me too. At least it's nice here. Not like we can get in anyway, well you could.” said Jun, his voice airy and light.

“I wouldn’t want to go alone though, that wouldn’t be any fun, ah, found it.” Jeonghan said. He kneeled down to a berry bush and removed a small black, pouch from his belt loop, then slipped on a pair of gloves he retrieved from the satchel slung around his shoulder. With nimble fingers, he avoided the bush’s thorns and effortlessly plucked off the berries, placing them in the pouch. Jun bent down a few feet away and fell silent as he filled his own pouch. Jun tied the pouch with a small grin and shoved his gloves back into Jeonghan’s satchel. He plopped onto the ground and leaned back on his hands, gazing into the vast blue sky. The stray clouds in the air lazily inched across the sky, feathery and light. 

Jeonghan rose to his feet with a small grunt, placing his hands on his knees to fully push himself upright. He stretched, raising his arms into the air and sighed as his back cracked. Jun snorted at the sound.

“Old man,” Jun said. Jeonghan placed his hands on his hips and his mouth gaped in fake-offense.

“Me? I’m young, and I've got a lot of stamina...” Jeonghan winked at Jun and earned a gagging noise in response.

“Get away from me.” Jun scrunched his nose and waved Jeonghan off.

“I’m just saying...” Jeonghan teased. 

“Gross. Keep it between you, Shua, and Seungcheo-whoa!” 

Jun extended his arms in front of him and expelled a blast of air from his palms, sending him away from the pile of bodies that flopped onto the ground in front of him, appearing from thin air. Jeonghan grabbed Jun by the back of his sweater and stepped in front of him, dart gun in hand. 

“If you do so much as move, I _will_ shoot you.” Jeonghan asserted. 

The four bodies didn’t move. Another minute passed.

“...I think they’re out.” 

“They’re probably faking.”

“I dunno, they look kind of rough.”

Jun shuffled forward, only to be stopped with Jeonghan’s free hand clasping onto his shoulder.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Jeonghan hissed.

“It’s fine,” Jun swiveled his wrist, creating a gust just strong enough to flip one of them onto their back. The man had messy, black hair and appeared to be a little taller than Jun. There was a bruise forming on his right cheekbone and his all-white clothing was stained with dirt and ash. Jun’s eyes narrowed as he spotted two, painfully familiar, red letters on the hem of the man’s pants.

“Their clothes...” Jun muttered.

“Yeah.”

“So, what now?”

Jeonghan slightly lowered the gun and sighed. He scanned their surroundings for anyone else, then turned his attention back to the four bodies in front of them.

“I don’t-I don’t know. We shouldn’t leave them here but it’s a risk to bring them back,” said Jeonghan, running a hand through his hair. Jun walked around to the other side and observed the man on the other end, tensing upon seeing the fresh stream of blood running down his face. Jeonghan clicked his tongue and shook his head.

“Seungcheol is just gonna have to deal with it,” said Jeonghan.

“That’s cool and all, but um- who’s gonna carry them?” Jun asked, nervously eying the bodies.

“Ah, right.”

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

“Unbelievable.” Jun wheezed, heaving the wheelbarrow ahead of him, “First you leave me with them, then you steal from a poor farmer, and now...oh _god_ , now I gotta push this by myself?” Jun stopped for a moment to catch his breath, then continued pushing.

“Take it as training, love, and it’s not _stealing_ , it’s borrowing. I’ll take it back later, okay?” Jeonghan soothed.

“Whatever,” Jun mumbled.

About an hour had passed, but the sky had already taken on a warm, orange and red gradient as the sun began to set. The melodies of birds were now replaced with the quiet chatter of crickets. The telltale glow of fireflies became apparent behind the dense bushes and trees, the light calmly ebbing then returning. 

Jun grunted as he raised the back wheels of the wheelbarrow over a tree root that protruded about half a foot off the ground and sighed with relief. He had a few landmarks mentally listed to help him keep track of how far he was from the base. There was the pond, farthest from the base, followed by the stone garden, huckleberry bushes, flower field, this tree root, and lastly, the river. And as much as Jun liked to flaunt his strength, pushing four grown men in a wheelbarrow while maneuvering around obstacles for this long was damn tiring. Jun opened his mouth to complain again, then sharply inhaled upon hearing one of the men stir. 

The tallest man murmured something unintelligible, almost squashed beneath the other three. The scene would’ve been comical to Jun if his mind wasn’t racing with the thought that this man alone might be able to pummel him. Jeonghan had stopped in his tracks as well, not daring to look back until Jun hissed his name, barely louder than a whisper. Jeonghan reached into his satchel and his hand emerged with a vial filled with a translucent, purple liquid. He unscrewed the cap and dripped a little onto his finger before rubbing it on the man’s philtrum. He retracted his hand, rubbing off the excess on his pants before screwing the vial shut and placing it back into his satchel. After half a minute of silence, the man appeared to drift off, slumping deeper into the wheelbarrow.

“What’s that?” Jun asked, keeping his voice low.

“Sleep serum. Mostly lavender and whatever else Hansol put in it.” Jeonghan replied.

“What is ‘whatever else’? Did you drug him?” Jun rapidly looked back and forth between Jeonghan and the man.

“I mean, even if I were to do that it’d be fine, Hansol tried it out once and it’s safe.”

“That’s Hansol. Not-” 

Jun stopped when he heard the man begin to speak...no, not quite speaking. He was...

He was _singing._

“My lady, my lady~ come on, my lady…”

Jun could only stare. It could hardly be considered singing. The man’s words were slurred and there was no consistent tune, but the serum looked like it was working nonetheless.

“Let’s just go home,” said Jeonghan, his expression caught between amusement and confusion. He patted Jun’s shoulder and walked ahead of him. Jun rolled his eyes then picked the wheelbarrow up and resumed pushing with an inkling that it was gonna be a long trip back.


	5. Regrettably Familiar

Jun heaved the wheelbarrow of men over one last ledge and lowered it with a relieved sigh upon seeing the base. It didn’t appear to be more than a small, garden shed from the outside, hidden by the swaying leaves of the weeping willow tree behind it and the vines that almost coated the sides. Had he not been so familiar with the area as well as being in and out of the shed so often, he might’ve missed it. Jun followed Jeonghan into the shade of the tree and let the wheelbarrow down, careful not to let any of the men fall out of it.

"O-pen-up," Jeonghan demanded, knocking on the metal door to emphasize each syllable. A hollow clicking noise was heard before the door cracked open and a head of messy blonde hair peeked through. The initially joyful expression on his face was replaced with one of confusion as he spotted Jun behind Jeonghan with the wheelbarrow. 

“Soonyoung, can you help me over here?” Jun asked, flashing a quick smile. Soonyoung’s gaze flicked over to Jeonghan, who simply met him with a smile and nodded towards the wheelbarrow. Soonyoung slipped through the door and took a cautious step onto the plush grass. He slowly approached the bodies, eyeing each one of them and watching for any sudden movements. He stopped in his tracks once he got a full glimpse of the clothes they wore. They were unpleasantly familiar.

“Shouldn’t we tell Seungcheol?” Soonyoung asked.

“Let’s just get them inside for now, they aren’t looking too good and enough time has passed already,” said Jeonghan, crossing over to the wheelbarrow.

He carefully lifted the man on top, holding one arm under his knees and using the other to maneuver the man’s head so it laid on his shoulder. The man was rather thin, but Jeonghan grunted quietly as he adjusted to the weight, then shuffled past Soonyoung into the shed. Soonyoung followed Jeonghan’s lead and lifted the next man with significantly less struggle, but remained careful not to aggravate any unseen injuries. Soonyoung took a quick glance at his face, and although it was smudged with ash and dried blood, his features had a delicate charm to them. Soonyoung blinked rapidly, clearing his head then met Jun’s eyes. 

“Are you gonna be able to carry those two in by yourself?” Soonyoung questioned. Jun opened his mouth to answer then stopped and looked down at the wheelbarrow.

“I can just wheel them in,” Jun said. Soonyoung stared at him in disbelief.

“Why do Jeonghan and I have to carry them, then?” said Soonyoung, using his chin to gesture to the man in his arms.

“Listen, he had me push all four of them here, give me slack. I'm tired. This is much better though, and safer.” Jun said, picking up the handles of the wheelbarrow, “Can you get the door?” 

Soonyoung grumbled something under his breath as he kicked open the door with his foot, letting Jun push the wheelbarrow past him before entering and nudging the door shut, then waited for the automated locks to click into place before following Jun. About a meter from the door, there was a ramp that descended into the rest of the underground base. It leveled out into a long hallway with various doors, some open and some shut. Jun carefully turned the wheelbarrow and entered the room on the immediate right with Soonyoung close behind him. 

Jeonghan stood next to one of the beds and was watching the swift movements of the medic ahead of him. Although Jeonghan had only been some steps ahead of Jun and Soonyoung, Seungkwan had already cut away the man’s clothing and was in the process of disinfecting the man’s cuts and burns. He spun in his chair towards the sink and rinsed out a rag. The water ran red, then faded back to its clear state. Seungkwan wrung out the rag, turned off the tap, and turned back around, spotting Jun and Hoshi as he did so. He frowned at the sight of the wheelbarrow.

“Please don’t tell me you stacked them.” Seungkwan sighed. Jun could only muster a nervous chuckle before Seungkwan waved his free hand at him and Hoshi.

“Whatever, whatever, just put them on the beds. I’ll be there in a second,” he said.

As they followed his order, Seungkwan sent a brief glance to Jeonghan. 

“Wanna tell me what happened?” Seungkwan questioned.

He placed the rag aside after he finished cleaning the shallow cut on the man’s leg and turned in his chair to grab a clear jar of ointment from a drawer in the cabinet next to the bed.

“We found them on our way back, they were already out, though,” said Jeonghan. 

Seungkwan unscrewed the cap of the jar and dipped his gloved fingers into the ointment before sliding back down to the end of the bed to apply it to the man’s leg. He stayed silent as he applied it, but Jeonghan caught the annoyed twinge of his eye. 

“So, you’re telling me that without knowing the extent of their injuries, you stacked them on top of each other? What if one of them has internal injuries, did you think of that?” Seungkwan reprimanded, twisting the jar shut with his clean hand. 

“We couldn’t carry them all back. Even if we were to carry two each, it’d be too much...and it’d take too much time to ask for backup.” Jun said as he approached the bed. Seungkwan tsked and began applying a gauze pad on the cut.

“Soonyoung, do you mind getting Hansol? I need a couple of extra hands,” said Seungkwan.

“You should probably grab Seungcheol while you’re at it,” he added. Soonyoung hesitated for a moment, giving each of the unconscious men a once-over before nodding and exiting the room. 

“We’re in for an earful.” Seungkwan sighed, moving on to bandage the man’s leg. Jeonghan shrugged and let his hands fall to his sides. “Maybe not,” Jeonghan cocked his head to the side with a slight smirk, “he might be mad at first but I mean, if he was really against it then none of us would be here.”

Seungkwan removed his gloves and discarded them into the wastebin before pulling on a pair of new ones. He supposed Jeonghan was right, they _wouldn’t_ be here if Seungcheol didn’t take them in. Seungcheol hated when one of them said they owed him their life but everyone could agree that he, Jihoon, and Soonyoung had done them quite the favor. Seungkwan ran his fingers over the red letters on the cloth he cut from the man’s pants. He’d be lying if he said that he didn’t wish that Seungcheol could have left the Arena with his initial target, but he was thankful. Had he, Seokmin, and Wonwoo been left there, they would’ve been nearly torn to shreds by the SM laboratory workers. 

_“Survival of the fittest”_

_“We can’t afford to create a sidekick.”_

_“It’s for your own good.”_

Seungkwan grit his teeth at the thought. He wasn’t surprised when they threw him into the Arena with little preparation, he knew they regarded him as a failed experiment, if anything he almost found it insulting. He’d seen those with passive abilities be discarded with no more than a flick of a wrist, leaving them to be thrown back into society with a target on their back or sending them straight to their deaths. Not too long ago, he assumed that he’d prefer the latter, it’d be much easier. But things had changed after he met Seungcheol, after he met everyone in the Oasis, and as far as Seungkwan was concerned now, Wonwoo was an excellent engineer, Seokmin was a fantastic person with or without his ability to keep everyone’s emotions under control, and as for himself, he made for a damn good healer.

Hansol shuffled into the room right as Seungkwan moved from the side of the bed to check on the other men. Jeonghan spared Hansol a comment about his questionable choice of wearing a large tie-dye robe atop a red sweatsuit, but stood from his spot after seeing the dark circles under his eyes. Jeonghan approached the younger and cupped his face in his hands, lightly rubbing his cheeks with his thumbs.

“Oh my goodness, you look like a raccoon. I told you to stop staying up so late.” Jeonghan scolded with no real edge in his voice. Hansol nodded, closing his eyes for a moment before lifting his head out of Jeonghan’s hands and walking towards the beds. 

“I’m good. I’m working on a toxin-extracting mix right now. Just in case somethin’ goes wrong, y’know?” said Hansol.

“Didn’t you already make one?” Jeonghan asked.

“Yeah, but I’ve made more…” Hansol made an indistinct gesture with his hands, “stuff. I don’t know if the old mix works on the newer products.” he finished. Jeonghan hummed in response then leaned against the wall, crossing his arms as he watched Seungkwan beckon Hansol over to the man he was currently observing. 

“This one seems fine,” said Seungkwan after carefully searching the man’s body for wounds.

“Just a few scrapes, can you disinfect them and apply ointment, Hansol?” Seungkwan asked. Hansol nodded and headed towards the sink to wash his hands and obtain a pair of gloves. The distinct clicking of boots became audible down the hall, the owner walking with a sense of urgency. Jeonghan smiled to himself and sighed.

“Here he comes,” he muttered. 


	6. Ease

Everyone in the room tensed as the footsteps grew closer. Seungcheol was rarely, if ever, openly upset but his presence could be felt through the entire bunker at times, and this was certainly one of them. Seungcheol took a sharp turn into the medical bay and strode towards the other end of the room, towering over the bed closest to the wall. He stood there in silence, eying the man up and down. Jun shivered as the atmosphere grew colder. He crossed his arms and lightly exhaled as Seungcheol cracked a knuckle, the sound reverberating through the silence. It took another shiver for Jun to realize it wasn’t just the tense atmosphere, the room was actually getting colder. He glanced down at Seungcheol’s fists and saw a thin layer of frost over them, with small snowflakes fluttering off of them and gently floating to the floor. 

“Seungcheol.” Jeonghan said, snapping Seungcheol back to his senses. The frost quickly melted from his hands and the room began to steadily feel warmer. Seungcheol mumbled a quick apology and moved to the bed Hansol was working at, then paced around to see the man Seungkwan was currently bandaging.

“Soonyoung already gave me a basic rundown. Any other details?” Seungcheol asked. His voice remained stable, but a hint of frustration was evident. Jun and Jeonghan exchanged glances, the silence only followed for a brief second before Jun caved and spoke. 

“Asides from them popping out of nowhere, no.” Jun said dryly, “well, there wasn’t really a pop, maybe more of just a whoosh- nevermind. We finished collecting materials and then they just appeared in front of us….out of thin air. Like they teleported?”

“Nobody followed you?” Seungcheol questioned.

“No. We made sure of it.” Jeonghan assured.

“Okay. Seeing as they’re from SM though, someone may be out to look for them soon enough. I’ll brief the others later, but for now, we lay low. No going outside unless necessary, and if you do, bring at least two people with you. Especially you.” said Seungcheol, pointing at Seungkwan.

“Not like I go out much anyway.” Seungkwan mumbled. Seungcheol ignored the comment in favor of lightly ruffling Seungkwan’s hair.

“How are they, anyway?” Seungcheol asked, watching as Seungkwan cleaned the blood off of the man’s forehead. It was hard to tell, which blood was or wasn’t theirs since their bodies were caked with ash and dirt. 

“Not as bad as they look, luckily. As long as they stay down and rest for a while, they’ll be fine. Once they wake up though, I don’t know.” Seungkwan replied as he applied a bandage, “It’d be really inconvenient if they get scared and disappear before they heal up.”

“Hey, Seungkwan, do you have any more- oh…”

Everyone’s heads turned towards the door at the sound of the voice. Seokmin stood right outside of the room with one hand on the doorframe and one hand on his head. He lowered his hand slowly after taking in his surroundings, revealing a reddened spot on his forehead. 

“Just in time,” Seungkwan said, turning back to his task.

“What happened to your head?” Jeonghan tsked and pulled a flustered Seokmin in the room by his wrist. He brushed Seokmin’s bangs out of the way and frowned, it wasn’t too large but looked like a headache waiting to happen. Seokmin didn’t stop Jeonghan but his attention had been set to the four unconscious bodies on the beds.

“Mingyu accidentally elbowed me so I came for an ice pack but um...they’re looking worse than me right now. Who are they?” Seokmin questioned.

“We don’t know yet, but you might be able to help in a minute. We need to calm them down so they don’t just up and leave as soon as they wake up, and before you say it, yes I know our defense system is great but they may or may not be able to teleport,” said Seungkwan.

“Okay...I can do that, I guess.” Seokmin said, searching the expressions of the others for answers but receiving none. 

“We can probably wake this one up. Jeonghan drugged him.” Jun said, gesturing to the tallest of the men.

“I did not _drug_ him, it was a sleeping serum-”

“Anyway!” Jun said, cutting Jeonghan off, “I think he’s probably the safest option since he might still be a bit loopy.”

“Okay, but be careful. If he makes a move to attack, knock him back out. Jeonghan, you still have it right?” Seungcheol asked, moving so he stood at the foot of the tall man’s bed. Jeonghan reached into his satchel and felt around for the black box of vials he kept on him. He clicked it open and removed the vial of sleep serum, swirling it around a bit to mix the contents.

“Yeah.” Jeonghan clicked the box shut and placed it on the bench next to the door before approaching the bed. 

“Jun and Hansol keep an eye on the other three,” Seungcheol ordered.

Jun hummed in response and took his position on the other side of the room along with Hansol. Seokmin cautiously rounded the bed to reach the head, then outstretched his arm. He pressed his index and middle finger together then placed them to the man’s forehead. A faint glow emitted from his fingertips, and the imprint stayed on the man’s forehead for several seconds after Seokmin pulled his hand away. Seokmin lightly tapped the man’s shoulder but gained no response. His eyes flickered between the man and Seungkwan, waiting for another direction.

“Deep sleeper. Oh well,” Seungkwan said as he backed away from the bed and made his way to the sink.

He grabbed a metal cup that sat next to the soap dispenser and filled it halfway to the top with water before shutting off the tap. He spun on his heel then headed back to the bed, not bothering to come to a full stop when he splashed the water in the man’s face. 

“Hello?” the man groaned with a hint of irritation.

“Hello.” 

The man’s wide eyes snapped open, but he didn’t jump, to Seungkwan’s surprise. Instead, he just laid there, frozen in place. His eyes flickered from Seungkwan to Seokmin before he locked eyes with Seungcheol. 

“Hi. What’s your name?” Seungcheol asked, forcing a smile. The man stared at Seungcheol, still frozen with fear.

Seungcheol squatted a little so he wasn’t towering over the bed.

“You’re safe, don’t worry. We’re far, far away from SM headquarters,” Seungcheol assured.

“How do I know if- no, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” the man started before he clamped his mouth shut and tensed, waiting for an impact that wouldn’t come. Seokmin took hold of the man’s hand and covered it with his own. Seokmin’s hands glowed, a little brighter this time as the light seeped into the man’s hand.

“It’s okay you don’t have to apologize for anything. Calm down.” Seokmin soothed. The man sighed, releasing the tension in his body. Seungcheol waited a few seconds before trying again, keeping his voice leveled and gentle.

“Here.” Seungcheol cupped his palms together, and when he separated them, a small rabbit-shaped clump of snow sat in his hands. The rabbit hopped in circles around his palm, kicking up a bit of snow with each bound.

“Years ago, I used to be held there,” Seungcheol began, a small grin of amusement found its way to his face as the man’s wide eyes shined with interest at the appearance of the rabbit, “They put me in the Arena before I was ready, guess they didn’t find me too useful...but I managed to escape, with some help. It was difficult and I had to hide for a while, but with time I met everyone here and we’ve been helping each other get through this until...well, nevermind that.” The rabbit hopped off of Seungcheol’s hands and burst into a swirl of shimmering snowflakes. Seungcheol watched as the snowflakes disappeared into the air then turned his attention to the man, who remained still with a somewhat vacant expression.

“You don’t have to believe me. I wouldn’t either if I were in your position. For now, though, we would like to help you. So, for starters, this is Seokmin, this is our doctor, Seungkwan, then you have Jeonghan, Jun, Hansol,” Seungcheol gestured to each person as he listed them off, “and I’m Seungcheol.” 

“...Lucas. My name is Lucas.” said the man. Seungcheol lightly chucked and a genuine grin spread on his face, his eyes crinkling a little at the sides.

“It’s nice to meet you, Lucas,” said Seungcheol.

“And for the record, I am not actually a doctor. I didn’t study for it, I just know a decent amount about medicine and first aid. Don’t come in here twice a week like these guys do. So reckless.” Seungkwan said, pointing a thumb at the other guys in the room.

“Whatever you say,” said Seokmin, sarcastically.

“Don’t think you’re off the hook. Coming in here every other day with a new injury.” Seungkwan rebutted, already heading to his freezer to retrieve an ice pack.

“The last two times weren’t my fault,” Seokmin whined, but still took the ice pack from Seungkwan and held it to his head.

“Yeah yeah, just keep that on your head.” Seungkwan said, “You and Mingyu are too clumsy to be hanging around each other.” Seokmin scrunched his nose but didn’t deny the statement.

“Anyways,” Jeonghan said, screwing the cap back onto the vial of sleep serum, “You should probably take a shower then eat something. Are you able to sit up?” he asked Lucas.

“I think so.”

Lucas carefully lifted himself into a sitting position with Seungcheol and Seokmin’s help. He stretched his arms forward, his elbows popping as he did so. Jeonghan tilted his head expectantly, earning a confused look from Lucas before he caught on to the non-verbal question.

“I feel fine, I guess? My head’s a little foggy but otherwise, I’m all good,” said Lucas as he swung his long legs over the side of the bed. 

“Be careful of the water temperature. You don’t have any major injuries but that cut is gonna sting if the water’s too hot or if you get soap in it.” Seungkwan said, pointing to his eyebrow. Lucas went to touch the area, but his hand was swatted away by Seungkwan.

“Aii~ don’t touch it. I’ll have to replace the bandage anyway once you’re out but still, be careful.” 

“Are they going to be okay?” Lucas asked. His eyebrows furrowed at the sight of Taemin, Baekhyun, and Kai laying in the other beds patched up with bandages. 

“They’ll be alright. Just a few cuts, bruises, and minor burns, it seems like exhaustion was the main issue here. I’ve gone and bandaged them up already so now they just need to rest. They may wake up anytime between a few hours from now to tomorrow, it depends.” Seungkwan replied.

Lucas nodded and rose to his feet. He frowned at the sight of his ash-covered hands and forearms. Now that he was awake and sobered from the serum, Lucas could almost feel the weight of the dirt caked to his skin and a shower _was_ sounding good right about now. Lucas took note of the sudden silence in the room and looked down at Seungkwan, then to Jeonghan, who both stared at him in what was either awe or caution. 

“What’s wrong?” Lucas asked, wringing his hands nervously. Jeonghan shook his head and chuckled before responding. “Nothing-”

“You really are tall.” Seungkwan cut in. Lucas stood there for a minute, dumbfounded, folding and unfolding his hands as he stumbled over his words looking for a response.

“Oh, uh, I’m sorry.” Lucas finally said.

“What? No, no, why would you be sorry? It was just a little surprising.” Seungkwan quickly stated. 

“Don’t worry, he’s just mad because he’s short.” Jun chided from the other side of the room. Seungkwan scoffed, he’d almost forgotten that Jun was over there.

“You’re only a few inches taller than me, I could still take you down if I really wanted to.” Seungkwan pointed a gloved finger at Jun.

“Oh really?” Jun laughed heartily.

Jeonghan sighed and placed his hands on Lucas’s shoulders, steering him away from the bed and towards the door, “Let’s get you to the bathroom, yeah?” Jeonghan chuckled, watching the younger ones in the room as they continued bickering. 

“Right.” 

Lucas caught one last look at each person in the room before exiting. Those still unconscious, Hansol watching Seungkwan and Jun throw empty threats at each other, Seokmin laughing along, and Seungcheol watching it all unfold with a fond smile. A small voice in his mind told him that he couldn’t really be sure whether or not they could be trusted, if they were telling the truth, but a larger part of him wanted to push that voice aside and take things as they appeared. If they really wanted him dead, they could’ve killed him and the others already, they didn’t have to patch him up, yet they did. Maybe this would work out. Maybe it wouldn’t, but he was certain that whatever the answer may be, he hadn’t felt this sense of comfort, this type of warmth bloom in his chest for a long time and he was willing to embrace it, even if for a short while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More powers are being revealed and more information will be dropped in the future! What do you guys think of the story so far? I hope you like it. Thanks for reading^^


	7. An Old Friend

_“Get back here!”_

_Two young boys followed by a stocky officer splashed through the puddles in the street. Two bags swung by their sides as they ran, tightly tied shut at the tops. The boys skidded around a corner onto an empty street, sprinting as fast as their malnourished bodies would let them. The older of the two spotted a dumpster and leaped inside, dragging the younger in with him then held a finger to his mouth, shushing him. He could hear the officer’s footsteps slow, uncertain in the darkness of the night before he mumbled something under his breath and continued running down the street._

_After the sound of footsteps faded away in the distance, the older of the two cautiously peered out of the dumpster then hopped out, landing silently on his feet. He held the hands of the younger boy as he jumped out the dumpster with a bit less grace._

_“What now?” the younger asked, his voice wavered at the end of the question._

_“Now we find the others. We can stay with Kibum’s for now and wait,” said the older._

_The younger boy nodded and with his free hand, grabbed the older’s. They stayed like that, cautiously making their way through the maze-like neighborhood with only the street lamps and moonlight illuminating their path. The rain had seeped through their clothes at this point, and the night was only growing colder, but the older still stopped halfway through their travel to place his coat around the younger’s shoulders._

_After walking for another twenty minutes, a familiar house came into view. It was off the road, surrounded by a lush garden. A stone pathway led up to the front door, warm golden light glowed from within and the boys could smell the sweet, citrusy scent wafting towards them from within the house. The older knocked three times on the door with the back of his knuckles and waited, tightly grasping the younger’s hand. The door clicked open and they were met with the curious, concerned eyes of another boy with short, blonde hair wearing a large knitted sweater._

_Kim Kibum. Remarkably intelligent with a sharp tongue and a naturally comforting presence._

_“Hakyeon, Taemin...where is everyone?” Kibum asked, ushering them inside, not caring about the water dripping from their bodies onto the hardwood floor._

_“We got split up. They should be here soon, I hope,” said the older, Hakyeon._

_“I see. For now, let’s get you both warmed up, okay?” Kibum scanned the outer surroundings of the house, checking for anyone who may have followed, before closing the front door and locking it. He swiftly made his way around the house, closing the curtains and locking the doors, then returned to the two boys with towels._

_“Go take a shower and by the time you come out, dinner will be ready,” said Kibum._

_“Wait.” Hakyeon detached both of the bags from his belt and handed them to Kibum, “This should be enough for the next couple of months.”_

_Kibum opened the bag and peeked inside, then tied it shut again and sighed, shutting his eyes and nodding. He hugged Hakyeon, burying his face into the crook of his neck, paying no mind to Hakyeon’s soaked hair and clothes._

_“Thank you...thank you so much.”_

“Hakyeon?” a soft voice called, followed by three knocks.

Hakyeon turned his gaze from the roses on his bedside table to the figure in the doorway. 

Taekwoon. Of course.

Hakyeon sighed. He knew he wasn’t exactly subtle in his exit, but he didn’t think he looked bad enough for Taekwoon to feel the need to approach him about it. Taekwoon closed the door behind him and walked around the bed before taking a seat next to Hakyeon, who sat leaning against the headboard. He gently bent Hakyeon forward and slid a pillow behind him before setting him back to his original position.

“Taekwoon… by any chance, do you...do you think that’s Taemin? Our Taemin?” Hakyeon asked, still a little spaced out. Taekwoon crawled onto the bed, crossing over Hakyeon, then laid horizontally so his head was in Hakyeon’s lap. He took Hakyeon’s hand and placed it atop his head. “And if it is?” Taekwoon replied with an ambiguous tone. Hakyeon absentmindedly carded his hands through Taekwoon’s long hair, massaging his roots every now and then. 

“I don’t know.” said Hakyeon, “I don’t...I don’t know.” 

He really didn’t. There were so many factors to think about, risks that he wasn’t sure he could afford to take. Whether he took the risk or not, he could lose everything. Everyone who depended on him...the ones who depended on _him_ to be level headed and rational. The ones who chose _him_ as their leader, yet here he was, in bed and _unstable_. He left those two confused and unattended for the sake of his own emotions. As much as he put up a front, there were times where he debated if he should have passed his role to someone else, someone more reliable, and this was one of them. Not like the others would let him, but he still pondered over it occasionally.

“Stop it.”

A warm hand was pressed against Hakyeon’s cheek, already wiping a tear away that he didn’t know had formed. Taekwoon’s other hand came up to caress his face, then gently tilted his chin so they made eye contact. 

“Stop blaming yourself,” Taekwoon said. Hakyeon let out an empty chuckle as he took hold of one of Taekwoon’s hands and leaned into it. “My apologies, I shouldn’t be like this. Not at a time like this.”

“Shh.” Taekwoon lifted himself into a sitting position and leaned towards Hakyeon. He pressed a chaste kiss to his forehead, “It’s a lot to think about, don’t apologize.” 

“I know it’s a risk but...but it’s a chance at getting him and the others back. But if this all goes wrong then everyone is doomed, including us.” said Hakyeon after a pause. Taekwoon lowered his hands from Hakyeon’s face in favor of taking his hands in his, but remained silent, leaving the air open for Hakyeon to freely think aloud.

“However...it’s our only shot and if I didn’t, what would all of this be for? We’d just go on living undercover until we either get old and die or SM finds us and kills us. So, if it means getting them back, I think it’s a risk worth taking.” said Hakyeon. The prior shakiness in his voice was replaced by an assertive tone, but he spoke as though he were convincing himself rather than Taekwoon.

“I hope this isn’t the wrong decision,” Hakyeon mumbled. A small, hardly visible curl formed at the edges of Taekwoon’s lips as he shifted to lean against Hakyeon’s shoulder, rubbing his thumb over Hakyeon’s knuckles. 

“It’ll all work out. It always has,” said Taekwoon.

“I suppose it will.”

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

“What’s going on?” 

“Trust me you don’t want to know, they’re probably in there getting all mushy and gross.” 

Mark sat at the edge of the bed with Ten at his side, concentrating as his hands hovered over Mark’s burns. Hakyeon had disappeared into another room about half an hour ago with Taekwoon following close behind, leaving him and Ten alone with Sanghyuk and Jaehwan. Mark quickly learned that Jaehwan was the least threatening out of the four men, but he still felt on edge with Sanghyuk standing in the corner of the room, glowering at all three of them.

“Mushy?” Mark asked.

“Yeah. Don’t get me wrong they’re both really fucking scary, trust me, you don’t want to get on either of their bad sides I’ve been there. But, if they’re alone they get all...I don’t know. Just mushy.” Jaehwan said, shivering as he cringed with his whole body.

Mark still couldn’t see the two men he just met being anything other than vaguely intimidating but he’d have to take Jaehwan’s word for it, they did live together, after all. He pursed his lips, uncertain. He didn't dare question Jaehwan's behavior and was honestly concerned as to when he could get out of wherever they were seeing as Jaehwan seemed comfortable enough to spill information like that. Though to be fair, Jaehwan was right in the fact that he and the others weren't in any shape to go anywhere any time soon, not to mention he didn't exactly have anywhere else safe to go.

“So anyway, you’re a healer?” Jaehwan asked, watching as the burn slowly faded to a color closer to Mark’s normal skin color. 

“No,” said Ten, curtly.

“Sorry for asking.” Jaehwan raised an eyebrow at Ten’s glare, “Since your friend, what’s his name, Tan? Is it? Whatever. Since he won’t answer, I’ll ask you instead. Is he a healer?” Jaehwan turned his chair slightly to face Mark.

“Well um-” 

“It’s Ten. And again, no,” Ten cut in.

“It's restoration,” he said without breaking his gaze away from Mark’s faded burn. He felt Jaehwan’s eyes on him then let out an irritated sigh before continuing, “It’s as simple as that. If say, a flower withers or dies, I can revive it. This is new though. I can only heal certain injuries for now. For instance, burns and cuts, but I can’t do much for diseases.”

“So you can bring people back from the dead?” Sanghyuk asked though it came out more as a statement than a question.

“ _No_ , I can’t bring people back from the dead. Thankfully, I haven’t had the opportunity to even be able to try it,” Ten rebutted.

“By the way, why aren’t we allowed to see him?” Ten lowered his hands and made direct eye contact with Jaehwan.

“Because we said so,” said Sanghyuk.

“Oh my _god_ , ignore him. Hongbin’s still working on him and I’d rather wait for Hakyeon’s permission. With the current...circumstance, I don’t know if he’d want you to leave yet. And none of us know what that kid can do, so for all we know, once the three of you meet up you may attack us then whisk yourselves off to someone else’s wardrobe. And I do like you guys, even you, Ten, but if I had to fight you, I wouldn’t hold back.” said Jaehwan.

Mark internally revoked his previous thought of Jaehwan being the most approachable. At least Sanghyuk was openly intimidating. Jaehwan was shockingly casual through all of this, too casual. The man’s bright smile almost made Mark miss the threat thrown their way, and until now he hadn’t thought that he’d be comforted by the presence of Hakyeon, the one person who Jaehwan seemed to obey. With three light knocks, Hakyeon entered the room, followed by Taekwoon. Both didn’t appear any different than they did before exiting, Hakyeon with his warm yet fox-like eyes and Taekwoon’s cold exterior.

“Apologies, I had something to attend to. As you’ve heard from Jaehwan, I would like to discuss one more thing with you while our medic helps your friend,” said Hakyeon.

“You heard? How much?” Jaehwan asked.

“Enough,” Hakyeon said, his eyes slightly widened with his grin as he cocked his head to the side.

Jaehwan nervously chuckled and rose from the chair before either had the chance to push him out of it. Instead of sitting down himself, Hakyeon tapped Taekwoon’s shoulder. Taekwoon took a seat and rolled the chair forward towards Ten and Mark, leaning to check on Mark’s now healed burn. He squinted and got closer, before backing up in his chair, with his curiosity apparently satisfied.

“He said he can restore things. I guess that means healing too,” Jaehwan said to Taekwoon, earning an amused hum in response. 

“Speaking of which, I see that you three are from SM, correct?” Hakyeon questioned.

“What about it?” Ten asked, with more caution in his tone than snarkiness.

“You mentioned someone by the name of Lee Taemin. I...also knew someone with that name years ago. If it is the same person, I believe we can help each other. You seemed close with him, as I was, and if we work together, we may be able to get him back.” said Hakyeon.

Ten scoffed and turned his head away, collecting his thoughts before facing Hakyeon again.

“There are plenty of Taemins out there, are you sure it isn't just someone with the same name?” Ten asked, a hint of bitterness having returned to his voice. Hakyeon simply grinned and took his hand from behind his back, revealing a photograph. 

“I figured you would ask. This is the Taemin I knew. Does he look familiar at all?” Hakyeon asked, handing the photograph to Ten.

There were five boys in the photograph, they all looked like they were in their late teens. On the far left was a boy with short blonde hair with his arm over a shorter boy with deep dimples and a wide smile. On the right were Hakyeon, his hair much longer than it was now, next to Taekwoon, who looked just as emotionless as he did now but with a large pink scarf wrapped around his neck, softening his appearance. Ten froze when his eyes settled on the boy in the middle. A heart-shaped grin. Eyes scrunched into crescents. Long brown hair cascading over his shoulders. It was him.

It was Taemin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uploaded two chapters today because I was feeling extra motivated! I hope you're all staying healthy :)


	8. Crimson Stranger

“Can we..can we have some time to think about it?” Ten asked.

Even as the words left his mouth, he wasn’t sure why he bothered asking. As they were now, he and Mark wouldn’t be able to hold up much of a fight, they had no idea how Taeyong was doing, and if Hakyeon was being honest, having the help of him and his men would be a great addition. When it came down to it, he just needed a moment to _think_ and process everything _._ There were risks, if Hakyeon had a personal vendetta against Taemin, if this was all a plan to gather the seven of them into one place and wipe them out, but it was certainly Taemin in that photograph, looking happier than he ever had in the years that Ten knew him. 

“Of course,” said Hakyeon. Without another word, he turned on his heel and proceeded to leave the room, followed by Jaehwan, Sanghyuk, then finally Taekwoon, who sent a brief glance towards Mark before stepping out of the room. 

“I think we should help them…” Mark spoke, breaking the silence, “I know that they could be dangerous too but it’s probably our best chance.” 

“Yeah. I agree, and if they really wanted us dead by now, we would be. For now, the first priority is making sure Taeyong is okay,” said Ten.

“Mm. When I woke up, Jaehwan said that one of you was fine and that one wasn’t doing too well, and seeing as Taeyong is the latter...I don’t know. He never specified what ‘not too well’ meant,” Mark said, his leg began lightly bouncing and he’d begun folding and unfolding his clammy hands. 

“Right...well I think we can tell Hakyeon that we’re willing to comply. I just hope that he doesn’t have another motive behind this.” 

“Yeah-”

Mark was cut off by a hauntingly familiar scream, muffled through the wall. Taeyong.

Ten rose from the bed and bolted towards the door, which to his surprise was unlocked. He swung it open and found the hallway empty, but spotted the shadows cast on the wall from the room at the very end of the hall. Ten cast a quick glance at Mark.

“Stay here,” Ten demanded.

“Wait, Ten!”

Ten was already halfway down the hall before Mark finished, stumbling over his own feet as he scrambled towards the room. He reached the end of the hall in mere seconds and stood there for a moment in shock, absorbing the details of the scene before him. 

The bed was knocked onto its side, spilled medicine and shattered glass littered the floor, and a body had just been flung past Ten, slamming against the hallway wall and knocking a painting onto the floor. Two sets of handcuffs laid discarded on the floor next to a tipped over wooden stool. Ten looked to the other side of the room and his eyes widened at the sight of Hongbin being held against the wall by the throat by none other than Taeyong. Taekwoon stood with his arm outstretched, his blade inches from Taeyong’s throat, with Sanghyuk struggling to pry Taeyong away from Hongbin. Ten searched the room for Hakyeon, only to find him hunched over the fallen supply cabinet, hurriedly mixing something. 

“Get your friend, he’s out of his fucking mind,” Jaehwan spat through gritted teeth from next to Ten, struggling to find his footing.

Hakyeon raised his head to the door after hearing Ten’s arrival, and sent Ten a demanding glare, sending a clear, yet nonverbal command to him. Ten hesitated, eyes flickering between Taeyong and Hakyeon. By distracting Taeyong, he could be sending him straight to his grave but if he did nothing, Taekwoon seemed to be seconds away from slitting his throat on the spot either way. 

“Ten!” 

Ten whipped his head towards the voice. It was Taekwoon. He’d only been awake for less than an hour but Ten still froze in fear, he couldn’t have imagined such a harsh yell coming from the soft-spoken man. He met Taekwoon’s eyes, and had he not been overwhelmed with everything else happening he could’ve sworn that an amber glaze passed over the man’s irises, but the thought left his mind as quickly as it came and he focused on the task at hand. He inched towards Taeyong with a careful hand extended.

“Taeyong, you need to calm down. Everything is fine,” Ten said, keeping his voice level. Taeyong’s grip on Hongbin lessened by a fraction and Ten could see his shoulders tense.

“Taeyong, it’s me,” said Ten, growing close enough to place his hand on Taeyong’s shoulder. Ten sighed in relief when Taeyong began to turn his head to face him but immediately retracted his hand after getting a glimpse of Taeyong’s face. 

That was not Taeyong.

Instead of the warm, brown, expressive eyes Ten was used to, Ten was met with a pair of glowing red irises. Dark, vein-like tendrils crept up Taeyong’s neck and trailed up his face, curling around his sharp features. There was hardly any sense of humanity behind his narrowed eyes, the only hint Ten received that Taeyong was still present being the faint confusion displayed on his face, as though Ten were a distant acquaintance or a face he’d seen in a dream once. Ten took a step back from Taeyong, his knees shaking as he stumbled backward. Taeyong opened his lips, barely, but enough for Ten to see Taeyong lightly mouth his name. He released Hongbin, letting him fall from his grip in favor of turning his attention to Ten. Sanghyuk removed his hands from Taeyong’s arm and caught Hongbin, then carefully lowered him to the floor, holding him upright through a coughing fit. Taeyong took a shaky step towards Ten, his legs wobbling under him. 

“Ten,” he said clearly, this time. “Ten- agh!”

Taeyong doubled over in pain, clutching at his head. He screamed as his body appeared to phase in and out of itself, overlapping into mirrored images before converging back into one. The tendrils rapidly disappeared and reappeared, retreating under Taeyong’s sleeves before shooting out again. Taeyong snapped his head towards Ten, heaving heavily. The crimson tinge in his eyes flickered, then left, just long enough for Taeyong to utter three words.

“Please help me.” 

Another scream ripped through his body as it duplicated and rejoined before he quickly settled into silence. Too quickly. Taeyong pushed himself off the floor with one of his hands, and Ten didn’t miss the black veins running down his wrist onto his hand.

In the blink of an eye, Taeyong appeared in front of Ten with a shard of broken glass in hand, cutting into his palm and pointed directly at Ten. Their gazes met once more, but there was no recognition. No hesitation. No sign of remorse. But Ten couldn’t bring himself to move, he simply stood there, ready for impact.

…

Everything was blurry. Someone was talking to him but he couldn’t tell who. He couldn’t find it in him to try and clear the thick fog in his head. He didn’t care. Maybe he was dead. Maybe Taeyong really took him out just like that, completely unaware. Or perhaps he wasn’t, perhaps he knew and had finally lost it. 

No, that couldn’t be it. No matter what they did to Taeyong in the laboratory, he’d always been the one able to handle it. There isn’t any way that the last experiment was the final straw. It couldn’t be. Did it really matter? 

_‘Whatever.’_ Thinking about it only made Ten’s head hurt. 

Oh. His head _did_ hurt, a lot, actually. 

So he wasn’t dead, but that would be better than whatever was going on right now. The sickeningly sweet scent of lavender and vanilla filled Ten’s nose, and he could feel himself being dragged somewhere and deposited onto the floor. He pried open his heavy eyelids and rolled his head to the side. He tried to blink through the dusty pink haze in his vision but realized that he wasn’t hallucinating and there were swirls of smoke surrounding him and whoever else was laying next to him. Ten squinted and tried to decipher the person’s features. As the smoke diffused, he saw the figure more clearly. Jaehwan laid next to him, unconscious. Ten groaned and turned his head to the other side to find Hongbin laying there. There was a commotion happening somewhere nearby, and Ten could hear someone complaining, but he honestly couldn’t bring himself to care and succumbed to the fatigue overtaking him.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

“Hakyeon, what the hell?” Sanghyuk gagged at the sweet smell as he carried Ten outside of the room and placed him on the floor between Jaehwan and Hongbin. Hakyeon didn’t respond and waved Sanghyuk off, a displeased scowl on his face. Taekwoon ushered Sanghyuk out of the room, covering the younger’s nose only to have his hand swatted away. 

“I don’t need your help to hold my br-” Sanghyuk stopped at the sight of Mark, holding himself up against the wall with his injured ankle lifted off of the ground.

“What’s going on? Is Taeyong okay? Where’s Ten?” Mark asked, his voice betrayed him, wavering at the end. Sanghyuk didn’t have time to answer as Mark looked at the line of bodies on the floor. 

“Ten!” Mark temporarily forgot about his ankle and put his full weight onto it, falling onto the ground immediately afterward and hissing in pain. Sanghyuk balled his hands into fists and let out a rather loud, irritated groan. He reached Mark in mere steps and lifted him by the armpits into the air. He ignored Mark’s protests and carried him down the hall out of Taekwoon’s sight. Taekwoon waited for Mark’s calls for Ten to fade into the distance as he was carried downstairs before turning back into the room. 

Hakyeon was in the middle of lifting Taeyong and placing him back onto the bed, which had been flipped back to its original position. The white bedding remained strewn across the floor, soaked in blood and the medicine Hongbin had been planning on injecting Taeyong with. Most of the smoke had filtered outside by now through the small window in the corner of the room, only leaving the faint tinge of vanilla floating through the air. Hakyeon snatched the handcuffs off of the floor and snapped them back on with one clasp on each wrist and the other attached to the bars on the sides of the bed. He stepped back and placed his hands on his hips, then raised his head and released a deep exhale.

“What a shame. I was saving that one.” Hakyeon nagged, gesturing to the shattered jar on the floor dripping with a translucent lavender fluid, “Seungcheol _just_ sent that one over too, ah...so disappointing. I suppose it was time to restock anyway.” Hakyeon glanced into the hall, hardly moving his head. 

“Where is Sanghyuk?” Hakyeon asked. 

“He took the boy downstairs,” said Taekwoon.

“Oh dear.” 

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

  
  


“Put me down! Ten! Ten!” Mark wildly flailed around in Sanghyuk’s hold to no avail. Sanghyuk remained unfazed as he turned around a corner and began walking down the narrow staircase, skipping every other step. Mark continued pounding his fists against Sanghyuk’s shoulders until Sanghyuk evidently decided he had enough and slung Mark over his shoulder. He crossed through what Mark assumed was a living room before turning another corner and kicking open the first door of the hallway. 

“Ravi!” Sanghyuk called. Mark ceased his punches and froze. He heard distant shuffling followed by footsteps and another door clicking open. 

“What’s up? Oh,” Ravi’s deep voice muttered from in front of Sanghyuk. Mark yelped as Sanghyuk practically threw his body onto Ravi’s. 

“Do something with him. I can’t deal with this right now,” Sanghyuk said.

“Sanghyuk! Who is this? Sanghyuk- wait, ah he’s already gone. Cool, um…” Ravi stood there awkwardly and Mark came to his senses, not realizing that he had been clinging to Ravi’s torso like a koala.

Mark jumped off of him and winced as pain throbbed in his ankle. He quickly scanned the room for something to sit down on. The room was a sharp contrast to the one he woke up in. The walls were painted a deep purple and a tall pink led lamp sat in the corner of the room next to a folded black futon. There were at least nine computer screens on the wall and desk behind Ravi and plants lined the wall opposite to it underneath a collection of photographs pinned to a board. Mark hobbled over to the futon and plopped down, leaning his head against the back of it. He turned his head and looked at Ravi, who seemed as flustered as he was. Mark’s eyes trailed from Ravi’s short choppy hair to his confused expression, then to the trail of tattoos that spread from his left shoulder to his forearm, tapering off at the wrist. There were numbers and patterns that Mark couldn’t decipher, and frankly, right now, that was the least of his concerns. 

“Uh, you want some water or something?” Ravi asked, rocking from side to side. At Mark’s lack of response, Ravi pursed his lips and nodded to himself before heading to the water dispenser in the other corner of the room. He grabbed two metal cups and set them down, filling them one by one. 

“So, if you don’t mind me asking, who are you?” Ravi asked as the water sloshed into the second cup. 

“Mark. My name is Mark,” Mark sputtered. Ravi hummed to himself and lifted the cups, ensuring that they were both filled to the same amount. 

“No, _who_ are you? And why are you here?” Ravi repeated as he sat down next to Mark and held out one of the cups to him.

“ _Oh_ , right. Um, I came from SM, but not on purpose! It was an accident, we were trying to get out so I jumped in a cabinet and I ended up here somehow, a-and my friends are upstairs right now, I think. I only saw one of them and he got knocked out or something, then there were some other dudes on the floor too and there was smoke and it sounded like there was a fight or something, I-...I don’t know.” Mark clutched the fabric of his pants into his hands in an attempt to minimize the shakiness of his fingers, but it didn’t do much. He didn’t dare look at Ravi, but he could feel his gaze burning into the back of his neck. One of his hands was lifted from his lap and Ravi pressed the cold cup of water into Mark’s grip.

“Give me a second,” said Ravi. He stood up and leaned over his desk, then held down a button that glowed white. “Hakyeon?” he spoke into the mic extending from the desk, “What’s going on up there?” He released the button and not a second later, static came through in response before clearing and Hakyeon’s voice could be heard clearly. 

_“Hello~ no need to worry, things got a little hectic so I just put everyone to sleep for now while I clean up. Don’t terrorize the kid, okay? See you soon.”_ Hakyeon’s sweet voice chided through the intercom before cutting off. Ravi shook his head and took his seat next to Mark, downing the cup of water in a few swallows. He wiped his mouth with his thumb and cleared his throat. 

“Sorry about that,” Ravi said. 

“N-no need, if anything we should be, I don’t know what’s going on but it seems like we’ve stressed Hakyeon out a lot and it's only been like...I dunno, main thing is i’m sorry and um, since he seems busy, I don’t even know if I can, or should be telling you this since we didn’t give him a clear answer but we might be here for a while. I don’t know. We might not depending on whatever’s going on up there,” Mark rambled, sipping on his water between sentences. It had undertones of cucumber and mint, and Mark couldn’t tell if it was because he hadn’t consumed anything in quite some time or if it was because of his hoarse throat, but it tasted amazing.

“...Elaborate,” Ravi said, folding his hands in his lap. Mark finished the last of his water and placed the empty cup aside.

“I think...we know someone that you know. SM was working on a project named Super M, and they put seven of us together for the...program. There’s me, the two upstairs, and four others...that we don’t know the whereabouts of right now. We mentioned one of them and Hakyeon says that he knew him years ago,” Mark explained.

“What’s his name?”

“Taemin. Lee Taemin.” 

Ravi went silent, then swore under his breath before turning back to Mark. 

“And you’re absolutely sure?” Ravi questioned. 

“Yes.”

“And you have no idea where he is right now?”

“Kind of. I don’t know. One of the members said to meet him at the Eastern Forest but I don’t know where he is, if they even got there,” said Mark. Ravi’s eyes lit up with realization and he sped back to his desk. He smashed his hand down on the button.

“Is anyone still up there?” Ravi asked.

_“What is it?”_ Taekwoon curtly responded.

“Oh! Okay, okay, okay, okay so the kid said that he thinks his friends might be in or near the Eastern Forest,” said Ravi. Silence followed on the other end before the brief static cut in again.

_“You said the Eastern Forest?”_ came Hakyeon’s voice.

“Yes.”

_“Okay. Thank you.”_

Ravi released the button and paced the room with a slight nervous bounce in his step and his hands set on his hips. He spun to face Mark and squatted down to his level.

“Okay. Here’s the deal. If your friends actually managed to get to the forest, that makes life a lot easier," Ravi said.

“What do you mean?” Mark asked.

“We have connections,” said Ravi.

“Connections?”

“Yeah. Convenient with all of our current circumstances and not too pleasant relations with...hm, others.” Ravi cocked his head to his side on the last word. He stood up and stretched. “So now what?” Mark questioned after a pause. Ravi scratched his head and plopped down in the chair at his desk.

“Now...we wait.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These chapters are getting steadily longer, whoo. I'm raising my word count goal per chapter because there's a lot I'd like to fit in. Things are picking up, so look forward to the rest^^ Stay healthy and I hope you're having a great day :)


	9. Contact

A few more hours had passed with no word from the others and after a while, Ravi had told Mark to get comfortable as he resumed his work, which mainly consisted of research. Mark couldn’t get a good look at what he was writing, but he got a glimpse of an article header on one of the screens.

**“New SM Hero Saves Civilians From A Burning Building!”**

Mark grimaced when he saw the picture posted beneath the title. The boy appeared rather young, Mark doubted he could be much older than himself. Loose, dusty pink curls laid atop his head and his eyes were scrunched with his bright smile. It was more disturbing seeing a smile rather than one of distress. It could only lead Mark to wonder if perhaps the kid had been lucky enough to go through a lighter process than others did. It was uncommon, but a few of the heroes SM successfully produced had managed to get by with the usual training, but of course, the smile could have easily been forced onto his face by whatever SM had in their files that could be used against him.

Mark shifted uncomfortably in his position and moved his leg so it could be propped up on the arm of the futon. Under any other circumstance, he’d be concerned with his manners but he couldn’t find it in him to care and Ravi didn’t seem to mind either when he occasionally glanced over to check on his condition. Mark greatly appreciated the comfortable silence, the only sounds being the light clacking of Ravi’s keyboard and the gentle whirring of a fan. There was never silence in the laboratory. The chatter of workers and the incessant buzzing of bright lights filled the air every day, and as much as it bothered Mark, he knew it was almost painful for Lucas. He couldn’t imagine it, having to hear _everything_ all the time, whether it be a fly in the room or footsteps from three floors up. Lucas claimed to have it under control but they knew each other long enough for Mark to see through the facade whenever it was too overwhelming. He desperately hoped Kai was able to get to the forest. If what Ravi said was true, they might have been lucky enough to have found shelter. _‘If not…’_ Mark shivered and pushed away the thought. He could only hope that the others had little to no injuries and could make it through the night.

His thoughts were interrupted by three quick knocks and the door cracking open before Ravi could get it himself. Jaehwan’s head appeared through the crack before he entered and immediately crossed the room to lean on the back of Ravi’s chair with his arms around the latter’s shoulders. 

“Yo,” Jaehwan deadpanned. He appeared just as lively as he had when Mark first woke up, the only thing betraying his bubbly appearance being the tired glaze over his eyes.

“...You’re okay?” Mark asked. 

“Yup,” said Jaehwan, popping his lips on the ‘p’, “That stuff sure does put you to sleep, though. Haven’t taken a nap that good in a while.” Ravi tilted his head back to look at Jaehwan, confusion strewn across his features. “Really? Hakyeon told me that it gives you migraines,” he said.

“Nah, I think he just says that so we don’t use it if it’s not necessary,” Jaehwan replied, earning an amused hum from Ravi in response.

“Anyway~,” Jaehwan began, locking eyes with Mark, “Before you ask, everything’s fine. Well, no, it’s not, but we’re figuring it out.”

“Where is everyone?” Mark questioned.

“Ten is still out, but Hongbin says it's mostly exhaustion now that his injuries have healed up and we decided it's a good idea to keep him up there in case your friend wakes up,” Jaehwan explained.

“If my friend wakes up?”

“Yeah, he was fine for a second but Hongbin was about to give him some painkillers then he lost it and tried to kill us. Is that his ability or something? Super strength?” Jaehwan asked with a hint of sarcasm.

“...No. He’s never been _aggressive_ , that doesn’t make any sense. He’s really thoughtful, and...I don’t know, he would never hurt anyone on purpose,” Mark stuttered.

“Yeah. He sure did put thought into the way he was about to snap Hongbin’s neck.” Jaehwan let out a bitter laugh at the end of the sentence.

“Oh my god,” was all Mark was able to utter. They’d only been here since the afternoon and an attempt had been made on the lives of strangers who could easily kick them out or kill them on the spot, and Mark couldn’t blame them if they decided to do so. He knew that if anyone were to attack any member of the Super M project, the other members wouldn’t hesitate to get revenge. Jaehwan seemed to have noticed Mark’s distress as a teasing smirk appeared on his face.

“Don’t worry. We aren’t going to murder you,” Jaehwan said with a teasing tone, “Hakyeon isn’t even that mad. Well, a little, you guys keep bleeding all over our furniture, but he isn’t the type to lose his cool over something like that.”

“What do you mean ' _something like that’_? What if he died and it was our fault?” Mark asked with panic laced in his voice.

“Well, I mean it _is_ upsetting but he didn’t die, so it’s fine. And even if Hakyeon was angry, he wouldn’t take it out on you. You weren’t the one who attacked us and he did seem to be possessed or something, so maybe it wasn’t exactly him either, who knows? Shit happens.” Jaehwan shrugged and backed away from the chair, pulling his hands away from Ravi’s. He sauntered towards the door but paused before exiting. 

“I’m going to the kitchen, either of you want something?” Jaehwan asked. Ravi swiveled his chair back towards his desk and opened a new tab before beginning to type. 

“Nah, I’m good,” said Ravi. Jaehwan nodded then looked at Mark. 

“Um, no thank you,” Mark said, cursing the rumbling in his stomach.

Jaehwan raised his eyebrows and shrugged once more before turning to leave.

“Suit yourself.”

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Ten wasn’t sure how long it had been since he passed out. Minutes? Days? All he knew that his bed felt softer than usual, something had been propped up under his head. That was new, there weren’t pillows in the sleeping quarters in SM. SM...

_Oh f-_

Ten’s eyes snapped open and he was met with a muted pink ceiling. There was something soft weighing him down so he shifted to see a large, white fuzzy blanket covering him. There weren’t any windows in the room, but Ten glanced at the digital clock on the stout bedside desk that read _‘10:26 PM’._

He quickly gave up trying to tell how much time had passed and released a deep sigh. It was certainly more welcoming than the last time he woke up, surrounded by strangers in an empty concrete room. This room was generously decorated with a mixture of rose gold and white and was lit by the candlesticks on the walls. Ten backtracked and shook his head. 

They were still strangers, who was he kidding? He’d only been conscious for maybe an hour tops, and better yet, Taeyong almost killed their medic. Right, _Taeyong._

Ten almost fell in his hurry to leave the bed and stumbled towards the open door. The room was off of the same hallway as earlier, so he immediately headed towards the sickbay, using the dent in the wall earlier formed by Jaehwan’s body as reference. He stood in the doorway and felt the cold sweat breaking on his temple. Hongbin and Sanghyuk’s heads snapped towards him, they briefly appeared surprised before a cold distaste took over their expressions. Taekwoon was standing a few feet away from the bed and only spared Ten a quick glance before quickly diverting his gaze. Hakyeon snapped his fingers at the other two, causing them to reluctantly turn away from Ten, Hongbin going back to observing the contents of the syringe in his hand and Sanghyuk looking out the window at the full moon. 

“I’m... I’m so sorry.” Ten muttered, not daring to look at anyone in the room. He heard a breathy chuckle from Hakyeon and from the corner of his eye, saw the man shake his head.

“No need. Everything is being taken care of and Hongbin is just fine,” said Hakyeon, who then slapped Hongbin’s arm for scoffing. Ten took nervous steps towards the bed until Taeyong’s face came into his view. The veins were slightly faded but still present. Ten clenched his fists together and kept himself from reaching out and touching Taeyong in some sense of false comfort.

“This isn’t Taeyong. I don’t know what’s wrong with him, he’s never lashed out like that.” Ten said. He followed the veins from Taeyong’s face to his arms, to his bony fingers. They looked foreign on his skin, wrapped and curled around his fingers like barbed wire. Silence followed before Hakyeon spoke.

“I figured.”

Ten raised his head at that statement and faced Hakyeon.

“What do you mean?” Ten asked.

“As you saw, he was able to break through whatever was controlling him for a few seconds, and I could tell just by looking at him that this isn’t natural. I...am not sure of what SM may have done, so it’s difficult to figure out how to undo it but I can assure you, we are working on it.” Hakyeon said. His voice was calm but there was an unmistakable tinge of disgust when ‘SM’ was mentioned.

“I’ve got this, though,” said Hongbin, handing a capped vial to Hakyeon without looking up from his notes. The vial was filled with jet black liquid.

“What is it?” Ten asked. 

“I don’t know yet.” Hongbin said through gritted teeth, poorly hiding his irritation, “It came from him. Think you can do something with it? If I can tell what it was made of, then I might be able to figure it out.” 

Hakyeon held the vial out to Ten, who took it after a long pause. Ten held it at eye-level and squinted. The liquid was thick and opaque, making it hard to see any potential particles in it. 

“I can try.” 

Ten closed his eyes and clasped the vial between his palms. He directed his concentration through the glass and into the liquid. He felt the counterclockwise flow of energy swirl between his palms and gather in the vial. He didn’t feel much of a change. It was like trying to punch through a wall of glass. He tried again, directing another surge of energy into it. A single crack ran through the glass wall. Better than nothing. Ten inhaled deeply and his brows furrowed as he sent another wave, straining. The crack expanded and branched off into multiple tendrils before shattering. 

He opened his eyes and blinked away the fuzziness. He unfolded his palms, revealing the vial. The liquid had faded from its black color into an unnaturally bright red. Ten barely stopped himself from flinging the vial far away from him in favor of hurriedly handing it back to Hongbin, who regarded him with clear disdain but confusion crossed his features. 

“What?” Hongbin asked, the scowl on his face only disappeared by a fraction.

“I don’t know exactly what it is, but they used it in the lab. Not so much on me, but they would inject it into certain people, but I’ve never seen an outcome like this,” said Ten.

“What usually happens?” asked Sanghyuk, leaning forward in his chair.

“In the cases I’ve seen, it can leave someone mentally vulnerable to mind control or following simple orders. Other times, it enhances their ability but in turn, they can lose a grasp on themselves, but I’ve never seen anything happen like this. They must have changed the formula or something…” Ten trailed off.

“Does it simply wear off over time? Or do they have an antidote?” Hongbin asked.

“It usually wears off after a couple of days and the subject is kept in solitary confinement,” Ten said, catching a glimpse of the handcuffs restraining Taeyong, “but it’s risky to leave him alone.”

“Why’s that?” Hakyeon questioned, standing from his seat. He took a few steps towards the head of the bed and leaned over Hongbin’s shoulder so he could observe the contents of the vial.

“Cloning,” Ten said after a long pause. “Taeyong...he can clone himself, but he doesn’t always have control over them. Sometimes they act just as he would, but there was an instance where one of them tried to kill him. He can’t create or maintain clones when he’s unconscious though.” 

Hakyeon hummed and straightened his back. His eyes glazed over as he temporarily became lost in thought before coming back to his senses. He placed a hand on his hip and stepped away from the side of the bed.

“I hope you won’t mind if I ask you to stay with him, just in case he wakes up. A familiar face helped him break through it before, perhaps it’ll help again,” said Hakyeon. Ten wordlessly nodded and turned back to Taeyong. Hakyeon sent him a soft grin. “Thank you. I’m going to pop out for a moment to check on your friend.”

Ten whipped his head around and his eyes narrowed.

“Where’s Mark?” he asked, cursing himself for having temporarily forgotten Mark in the midst of his panic. 

“Downstairs. He’s unharmed. I’ve just sent Jaehwan to check on him,” Hakyeon said, then waited for another response from Ten but received none. Ten silently turned away and leaned against the metal frame of the bed, tightly gripping the bar. Hakyeon raised an eyebrow then exited the room without another word. An uncomfortable silence filled the air and Ten could feel three pairs of eyes burning into him.

“You better not be planning anything. Try something and you’ll be dead before you know it,” Hongbin sneered. 

“And why would I do that?” Ten asked, returning the glare and tilting his head to the side. Hongbin scoffed and rolled his eyes. 

“You seem rather tense, no? Like you’re just _waiting_ to snap,” said Hongbin, ignoring the disapproving look Taekwoon gave him. Ten cracked a knuckle before folding his hands behind his back. He was starting to feel a lot less apologetic for Taeyong’s previous action, but he kept that thought to himself. He had to keep his composure because they were definitely on thin ice as things currently stood, but he could almost feel the sweet satisfaction of smacking that smug look off of Hongbin’s face. 

“Well, I woke up in an unknown location surrounded by strangers, one of my friends is injured while the other isn’t in control of his body, and SM is probably hunting us down as we speak. So yes, I’m feeling _rather tense_.” Ten said, barely leaning forward. The two remained like that, staring at each other, wordlessly daring the other to make a move before Taekwoon cleared his throat and disrupted the tense silence.

“Mark told us that the rest of your friends were planning on going to the Eastern Forest. If that is the case, we may be able to contact them,” said Taekwoon, stepping between the two to obstruct their views of each other. Ten waited for a response but Taekwoon remained silent.

“We have associates who live there,” Sanghyuk continued to explain, “Hakyeon will send a letter tomorrow morning.” 

“...Thank you.” Ten muttered. He took a seat on a stool by the wall and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. Thoughts swam around his head and weighed on his shoulders as he thought about the events unfolding. He’d never thought about the possibility of actually escaping SM. He fantasized about it, sure, but it was a distant thought.

Everyone knew on their first day that nobody could truly leave this life behind. After retirement, many people still had ties of some sort to SM. Some ridiculous debt to pay despite the promises given during recruitment. But now that he had barely made it out, there was no sense of happiness that he used to imagine would come upon leaving. He had no idea where the other four were, or if said ‘associates’ had found them and how they’d react. They could be dead, for all Ten knew, if one of the others had been injected with the red substance and lashed out like Taeyong had, and here he was, sitting in the corner of a room full of threatening, and annoying, in Hongbin’s case, men who he knew nothing about. At this point, he figured they weren’t spies for SM, but he wouldn’t let his guard down so soon. He had no clue what they were playing at, how they knew Taemin, nothing at all, but if this was his only chance to see the others again then so be it. As difficult as it’d be, he would have to simply sew his lips shut and oblige for as long as it would take.

Fun.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Mark awoke with a start, unsure of when he actually fell asleep or what time it was. He immediately sat up and looked around, only to find that the studio was empty. A dark green blanket covered his legs, pooling at the waist. He figured it must’ve been Ravi. Mark pulled the blanket aside and carefully shifted so he could place his feet on the floor, mindful of his ankle. His uninjured foot landed on something and he immediately retracted it then peered over the edge to see the item he’d accidentally stepped on. 

A pair of crutches laid on the floor, parallel to the futon. Mark looked around the studio once more. Definitely empty. He’d have to thank whoever left these, but first, he had to check on Ten and Taeyong. He hadn’t meant to sleep as much as he did the day prior, but there was an overwhelming wave of fatigue that overcame him, he figured it may have come from overextending his ability or perhaps just having a moment to sit and absorb everything. Either way, he was definitely feeling refreshed. He leaned forward to see the digital clock on the desk. The room had no windows so he couldn’t tell the time.

_6:25 am_ , the clock read.

Only a bit earlier than he’d usually be woken up, but he didn’t mind. With the aid of the crutches, Mark made his way to the door and opened it, sliding through the crack before it came to a full close. The studio was at the end of a hallway with only one other door that Mark didn’t bother to check. He wasn’t trying to invade anyone’s privacy, they’d done enough already. The hall opened up into a living room that connected to the kitchen, only separated by an island with six stools, three on each side. The living room had concrete floors, as most of the place appeared to have, but contained a black carpet with two blue couches separated by a glass coffee table topped with various candles. Black shelves lined the walls containing books and framed pictures of different sizes. A fireplace was placed a meter away from the coffee table underneath the flatscreen television. Mark painstakingly crossed through the area to reach the stairs. He sighed, preparing for the exhausting task ahead of him when he caught a glint in his peripheral vision. He came to an abrupt stop, almost losing his balance and turned to see the source. 

Through the kitchen window, he caught a glimpse of sunlight reflecting off of something metal, but the glare was too strong to distinguish the shape. As he entered the kitchen to get a closer look, between waves of tall, swaying grass, he spotted a figure holding a silver flute to their lips and playing a tune that sounded muffled from where Mark stood. The figure lowered the flute and the glare left, allowing Mark to see their face clearly. It was Hakyeon. 

His warm skin glowed in the golden light of the sunrise and a gentle breeze flowed past, ruffling his hair. His eyes were closed, and he appeared to be content, basking in his surroundings. Hakyeon’s eyes opened and a wide smile spread on his face, more genuine than anything Mark had seen the day before. He followed Hakyeon’s line of sight to the silhouette circling in the sky. A bird with two long, ribbon-like tail feathers came into view and steadily descended towards Hakyeon before coming to rest on his extended arm. Upon closer inspection, Mark could see feathers on the bird’s head and neck that shimmered a vivid shade of blue. Hakyeon seemed to be saying something to the bird as he gently stroked it with the back of his fingers. He reached into his pocket and his hand emerged with a folded piece of paper, then held it out to the bird, who grabbed the paper with its beak and beat its wings, sailing back into the sky as quickly as it had arrived, leaving Hakyeon with a fond grin as he watched it disappear into the distance. Mark jumped when Hakyeon immediately turned his head in his direction and made eye-contact with him, but the smile didn’t leave his lips. Hakyeon dusted off his hands and took his time in making his way back to the house, leaving his shoes at the door after he closed it. 

“Hello, Mark,” Hakyeon greeted.

“Hi,” Mark quickly said, averting his gaze. Hakyeon chuckled and maneuvered around Mark to reach the sink and proceeded to wash his hands.

“I’ve just sent a letter to our friends in the forest. If all goes well, we should be hearing back within two weeks maximum. The bird you’ve just seen is our Starlight. She’s quite beautiful, don’t you think so?” Hakyeon turned off the tap and dried his hands on a towel hanging next to the sink. Mark nodded in response and leaned awkwardly on a crutch, eyeing the staircase again. Hakyeon spun around and gave Mark a once-over before his hand flew to his face to cover his gaping mouth.

“Oh dear, you haven’t eaten at all, have you? When I came to check on you last night you had already fallen asleep. Come here, take a seat,” Hakyeon said, already ushering Mark towards one of the stools. 

“I-i’m alright, I was mainly just wondering about Ten and Taeyong…” Mark murmured. His stomach instantly countered his statement with a loud growl and Mark winced. Horrible timing, yet again. Hakyeon tsked and guided Mark to a seat. He then strode to the door and pressed a button that Mark hadn’t noticed before. A small speaker was above it, similar to the one Mark had seen Ravi use. 

“Taekwoonie?” Hakyeon all but sang into it. He released the button and waited.

_“Yes?”_ came Taekwoon’s reply, his voice was rough, probably having just woken up, Mark figured.

“Can you come and help with breakfast, please? Be careful not to wake the others. Thank you.” Hakyeon released the button and reached over to turn on the coffee machine. He then took a mug from the drying rack and went about adding a couple of spoons of sugar and creamer. 

“I’ll have to figure out how to feed Taeyong later, but for now, do you like crepes?” Hakyeon asked after a few minutes, now pouring the coffee into the mug. 

Mark pursed his lips and lowered his head, his fingertips nervously tapped on the counter. “I’ve never actually had one,” he admitted with an awkward chuckle. With his eyes locked on his fingertips, Mark missed the split second where Hakyeon’s smile faltered and his eyes softened, but the man instantly neutralized his expression and turned away to grab the kettle off of the stove and turned on the sink. 

“Well then,” Hakyeon watched as the water flowed into the kettle, then turned off the tap, “You’re in for a treat. I’ve been waiting to try these jams on something, and Taekwoon makes amazing crepes.” said Hakyeon, gesturing to the array of jars on the counter. His eyes shifted behind Mark and his face brightened. 

“There you are.” Hakyeon beamed. Mark glanced over his shoulder and saw Taekwoon plodding down the stairs. Had Hakyeon not pointed him out he wouldn’t have noticed the man’s presence. 

Taekwoon rounded the island and stopped at Hakyeon’s side, mumbling a greeting before bending down to let his forehead rest on Hakyeon’s shoulder. His wavy, dark hair was sticking up in multiple directions. Hakyeon chuckled to himself as he smoothed down a stray piece of hair. 

“You’re in a good mood today,” Taekwoon mumbled, his words still slurred as his grogginess hadn’t worn off. 

“Mm. I just saw off Starlight. She’s looking radiant, as always.” Hakyeon said with a proud smile as he slid the mug of coffee towards Taekwoon. Taekwoon hummed and lifted his head from Hakyeon’s shoulder then lazily brushed a kiss on his temple, though it was more of a sluggish nuzzle. He lifted the mug to his lips and took a long sip, then laid his eyes on Mark. The boy was still fidgeting with his hands, looking away from the two.

“How is your ankle?” Taekwoon asked before taking another sip. Mark almost missed the question and fumbled with nothing as he tried to compose himself. 

“It still hurts b-but um, thank you...for the crutches,” Mark said. Taekwoon nodded but didn’t say anymore, instead busying himself with gathering ingredients. 

“No problem. Sit tight, the food will be ready soon enough,” said Hakyeon, lightly tapping the counter before crossing the kitchen to help with prep. He lightly gasped then shuffled quickly towards Taekwoon, reprimanding him about kitchen safety as he tied the other's hair up with a rubber band he had around his wrist. Mark settled in his chair and watched as the two prepared the crepes, and shortly after a warmth filled the air, it felt strange and distantly familiar to Mark but he couldn’t pinpoint why. That was simply the heat of the stove, it had to have been, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Starlight is a ribbon tailed astrapia if you wanted a visual reference! Writing this one was fun, hope you enjoyed :)


	10. BSS03-21

After a week in the bunker, Lucas still struggled to fully adjust due to the short duration of time and the ingrained habits he picked up from SM, but he could admit that he’d been able to relax much quicker than he would have initially imagined. The first two days had been tense, waiting for the other three to wake up. Baekhyun had been the first. Rather than being shocked, he had simply thanked Seungkwan for helping them. Though Lucas couldn’t say that his reaction to the situation was a surprise, even back when he first met the eldest of the group, he tended to prioritize the others over anything else. 

Kai had been next, and had he not completely exhausted his powers in getting them to the forest, he seemed seconds from escaping and refused to believe Seungcheol’s words until Lucas convinced him to trust the others, though to be fair, whenever one of them happened to be in the room, Kai became noticeably tense. 

Taemin had been the last to wake up, two days after they were brought into the bunker. He’d been silent, only answering with one to two word replies or simply brushing off the question. There was no doubt in their concern, the previously eccentric and witty man had lost the spark in his eyes and he was rarely caught not spacing out, but another topic sat on the table. They had absolutely no idea where Mark, Ten, and Taeyong had gone. 

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

“Tell me, oh _please_ explain to me how you thought it was a good idea to tell Mark to come to the forest? How is he supposed to get here, hm? The only thing he could have used in there were the medicine cabinets or maybe a space under a sink. Do you see that anywhere in a forest?” 

Lucas sat on his bed in the sickbay with his eyes flickering between Kai and Baekhyun. The four of them hadn’t had a moment to themselves as Seungcheol didn’t trust them alone, but now that the only other person in the room was Seungkwan, who was busy redressing Taemin’s injuries, Lucas figured it was only a matter of time before Baekhyun snapped.

“This is one of the only areas SM doesn’t keep an eye on, you know that,” Kai said, hardly keeping his voice level.

“He could be anywhere in the city right now! There are eyes everywhere, Kai, if they get caught they’re done for. Hell, for all we know they could have been caught already.” Baekhyun retorted.

“I trust Mark to keep himself and the other two safe, do you not?” 

Silence filled the air. Neither of them moved an inch until something clattered onto the ground. Lucas glanced to the bed Taemin and Seungkwan sat on, then looked at the spilled, luckily not cracked, glass tube of clear liquid on the ground. 

“Just my luck.” Seungkwan muttered as he picked up the tube, “Kai, could you do me a favor and grab a container of this from Hansol?” Seungkwan said, gesturing to the jumbled numbers and letters on the tube. Kai’s eyes narrowed for a moment, almost appearing to be insulted by the request before he took one last look at Baekhyun, then the label on the tube and stormed out of the room, leaving a seething Baekhyun glaring at the door. 

Lucas rose to his feet and approached the puddle that Seungkwan was already drying with a towel and extended a hand. Seungkwan looked at his hand then shook his head and waved his hand to dismiss the offer. 

“I’ve got it, it's just water. Had to separate those two before they bit each other’s heads off,” said Seungkwan. Lucas awkwardly grinned then nodded.

“Sorry about that. They can both handle stress, it's just...when it comes to the others it gets difficult to hold it together, you know?” Lucas said, taking his spot back on his bed as Seungkwan crossed the room to hang the wet towel over a metal rung. 

“Trust me, I know. The guys here are like that too. Especially the older ones.” Seungkwan’s eyes glazed over for a moment as he recalled a memory, then shuddered as he returned to his senses. 

Baekhyun finally moved from his spot and sat beside Taemin. He stared straight ahead but his eyes focused on nothing in particular. Seungkwan leaned over Taemin, giving each of the bandages a once-over then straightened, stretching his back with his hands on his hips. Baekhyun spun on his heel from his previous spot and strode towards the bed.

“How is he?” Baekhyun asked.

“His injuries are healing up just fine. I suggest that you all eat something though, you’ve barely eaten since you’ve been here. You don’t have to eat with us, but just know that the kitchen’s open.” Seungkwan said. 

“Thank you,” said Lucas, nodding in acknowledgment. 

“No problem,” Seungkwan said before sitting down and pulling his phone from his pocket and quickly typing something into it, leaving the room silent once again.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Kai ran his hands through his hair, sweeping it back from his face in a rough manner as he made his way down the long hall then took a sharp right turn. He understood Baekhyun’s frustration, he knew the dangers that the other three were facing if they were in the city, but Mark and Ten lived there before and could find their way around if need be, or so Kai hoped. 

He slowly came to a stop next to the door that he assumed was Hansol’s. Seungcheol had given them a brief tour but Kai hadn’t tried to navigate the bunker by himself before. The door opened just as he raised his hand to knock, causing him and the person exiting to jump in surprise. Kai blurred and appeared a few feet away from his previous spot and the person he’d knocked into was nowhere in sight.

“Ai~ you scared me.” said a distant voice. The air in front of Kai shimmered and a figure materialized. He looked up and locked eyes with Jeonghan, who had a hand clutched in the fabric of his sweatshirt over his heart. His hair was black instead of its usual blonde, his eyes were a deeper brown than Kai had previously seen and he spotted a long, thin scar that ran from Jeonghan’s left cheekbone to his jaw, it was a similar shape to the trail a tear would leave. Jeonghan noticed his staring and sighed as he pushed his long bangs from his eyes. He ran a hand through it and Kai watched as the hair lightened to a platinum blonde from root to tip. When Jeonghan’s eyes opened, they returned to their hypnotizing hue of green and the scar had disappeared.

“Sorry. I just needed to get something for Seungkwan.” Kai said, still processing Jeonghan’s instantaneous transformation. Jeonghan nodded and stepped aside to let Kai slip past him into the room but remained standing in the door frame, watching Kai carefully. The room had hardwood floors and the walls were painted carrot orange. Kai passed by three rows of green shelves full of books and various labeled containers of ingredients before he spotted Hansol hunched over a desk vigorously mixing something in a metal bowl. His back was turned to Kai but his stirring came to an abrupt stop as soon as the latter turned the corner. 

“What’s up?” Hansol spun around to face Kai then resumed his stirring.

“Seungkwan said he needed…” Kai’s eyes glazed over as he tried to remember the assortment of letters and numbers. He blinked a few times then continued, “He needs more BSS03-21.” A brief wave of confusion passed over Hansol’s face before his eyes shone with realization and he chuckled to himself, shaking his head.

“So, what happened in there?” Hansol asked, leaning back against the desk. He looked up from his bowl after Kai’s lack of response.

“Did you annoy him or something? Seungkwan only tells the others to get him that or some other nonexistent name when he’s trying to get someone out of the room for a while,” Hansol explained. 

“Ah…” Kai pursed his lips and scratched the back of his head, “There was a bit of an argument between Baekhyun and I. We should have been careful not to disturb him. Apologies.” 

“No need to apologize to me, I wasn’t in there. Plus, he probably wasn’t offended, he tends to do that even with us so that we don’t go too far and say something we don’t mean. You wanna chill in here so both of you can cool off?” Hansol asked. Before Kai could respond, Hansol used his foot to slide the large bean bag that previously resided next to the desk towards Kai. Kai muttered his thanks and awkwardly squatted above the bean bag before falling on it with more force than initially intended due to miscalculating how far off the ground he was. He let himself sink into the bean bag and sighed, welcoming the comfort. Hansol sat back down at his desk but had turned the chair so it faced Kai. Once the white clumpy mixture in the bowl had begun to smooth out into a batter-like consistency, Hansol retrieved a smaller bowl filled with a dark liquid from his desk and emptied its contents into the metal bowl then continued mixing. 

“Has there been any sign of the others?” Kai asked, fixing his eyes on the movement of the whisk. Hansol shook his head.

“Not yet. But I suppose that’s not all bad, that there aren't any headlines about them, as strange as it is,” said Hansol. The mixture darkened into a deep blue color, and Hansol set it aside, then began searching through the desk’s drawers for something.

“Strange?” Kai questioned.

“Mm. When Joshua, Mingyu, Jeonghan, and I got out, there were _a lot_ of articles floating around calling us ‘rogues’ and there were people out for our heads, but there hasn’t been anything about the three you mentioned.” Hansol said. Kai stiffened and fixed his posture to the best of his ability in the bean bag.

“Odd,” said Kai, earning a hum of agreement from Hansol. SM was up to something and he couldn’t tell what, but he was set on finding it out, whether they’d caught the others before the news could get out or had something else up their sleeve.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Jeonghan relaxed after about fifteen minutes of eavesdropping on Kai and Hansol and decided to leave the two alone. He wasn’t sure if he could say that he completely trusted the newcomers, but Kai didn’t seem as though he’d harm Hansol based off the last week he’d spent observing them. Before the others awoke, Lucas informed them of their abilities in advance, which Jeonghan was grateful for. The kid couldn’t lie for the life of him, claiming that he felt fine a few days back, betrayed by the wound that had reopened on his brow and began bleeding down the side of his face. 

_Poor kid, he reminded Jeonghan of…_

Jeonghan stumbled backward as he walked face-first into something large, warm, and solid. He looked up and was met with a pair of concerned eyes searching his own. Two hands steadied him by the shoulders.

“Sorry, are you okay?” asked Mingyu, brushing non-existent dust from Jeonghan’s shoulders before lowering his hands to his sides. Jeonghan patted Mingyu’s arms and nodded.

“I zoned out, my bad,” Jeonghan said.

“Oh...okay,” Mingyu replied, though Jeonghan had already passed him and slipped into his room. Mingyu frowned and continued to shuffle through the bunker until he reached the kitchen. Jihoon stood over the counter, slicing an apple into wedges. He placed the knife aside and began placing the apple wedges into a bowl filled with other fruit. Mingyu crossed the kitchen until his chest was pressed against Jihoon’s back and engulfed him in a hug. Jihoon groaned in disapproval and lightly elbowed Mingyu in the side, but Mingyu didn’t move, instead hunching down a bit so he could plop his head on Jihoon’s shoulder and opened his mouth. 

“Hi, Mingyu,” Jihoon sighed. Without sparing him a glance, Jihoon picked up an apple wedge and held it a few inches from Mingyu’s face. Mingyu chomped down on the wedge before backing away and leaning on the counter next to Jihoon. 

“Hey,” said Mingyu, his voice muffled by the apple. He finished chewing and swallowed before continuing, “Jeonghan’s acting weird.”

“What do you mean?” Jihoon asked after a pause.

“I dunno, he’s just out of it. Said he was fine but I know he’s lying.” Mingyu plucked a blueberry from Jihoon’s bowl and popped it into his mouth, “Has he told you anything?” Mingyu asked. Jihoon shook his head and put the knife and cutting board into the sink.

“No, but if anything, it’d be strange if he wasn’t stressed. There’s everything going on with the new guys and I think he might’ve stumbled across the news about…” Jihoon lowered his voice by a fraction, “Chan’s debut.”

“Yeah,” said Mingyu. His shoulders slumped in defeat and he moved to walk away, but was stopped by Jihoon’s loose grip on his forearm.

“I know you want to help him but there’s not much any of us can do right now, as frustrating as that is. But if we have the help of four, or seven more people, if we get any hint of the other three, we’ll be another step closer to getting Chan back.” Jihoon said, releasing Mingyu’s arm.

Mingyu flashed a quick, grateful grin, then stepped back as Jihoon nudged him aside to make his way out of the kitchen into the hallway. Mingyu sighed and turned to the sink. He frowned at the sight of the dishes piled up then twisted the handle and waited for the water to run from the faucet, letting the sink fill up a little before getting to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's VIXX's 8th anniversary today!! Glad to see how far they've come. I hope you enjoyed the chapter, there's more to come soon. Apologies for the late update :)


	11. A (Not So) Small Issue

The sound of bells chiming outside awoke Seungcheol with a start. He didn’t move from his spot, instead listening for any other sounds that would follow. The bells chimed again. He pursed his lips, preparing for either relieving or devastating news. 

Seungcheol carefully pried a sleeping Joshua off of him then slowly swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood. He glanced over his shoulder at the sound of Joshua stirring from his slumber, then relaxed after seeing that the boy had simply rolled to his other side and slung an arm over Jeonghan’s torso. He slid on his slippers and shuffled out of the room and down the long, dark hallway. He frowned at the sight of light streaming from under the crack of Jihoon’s door. Had it not been for the current task at hand, he would try to convince the younger to sleep or check if he’d eaten, but Seungcheol made a note to handle it after checking the noise.

He absentmindedly ran his hand along the railing of the ramp leading up to the main door before coming to a slow stop. The entrance room could hardly be considered a room, it was more the size of an oversized closet. It was dark, but Seungcheol knew his way around enough. He ran his hand along the wall until it collided with a lever. He pulled the lever down and the door unlocked with a few light clicks. Seungcheol took another step forward and wrapped his hand around the door handle, carefully cracking it open and was met with a soft gust of air. It appeared to be early in the morning, Seungcheol figured. Stars were still shining among the sea of blue but a soft orange hue emerged from beyond the horizon. After a quick, but thorough scan of his surroundings, Seungcheol didn’t notice anything that he’d consider a threat. Instead, two long white feathers came into his view from around the corner of the shed. 

“Starlight?” Seungcheol whispered.

The bells jingled once more as the bird came into view. She flapped her wings and landed on the wooden post of the small birdhouse attached to the wall of the shed. A small grin made its way onto Seungcheol’s lips as he remembered how excited Mingyu had been to make it after meeting Starlight. He had needed to ask Seungcheol for help after accidentally hitting his fingers with the hammer several times, but they successfully nailed it to the outside of the shed nonetheless and Starlight seemed to have a liking towards it. 

Seungcheol stroked Starlight’s head a few times with his index and middle finger, then turned his attention to the folded paper held in her beak. He carefully took the letter and unfolded it.

_Hello, friend._

_I hope this letter finds you well. Recently, there has been an unexpected turn of events and there are three new residents in my household. We are experiencing a bit of an issue with one of them but it will be handled in no time, no worries._

_One of them has informed me that they are searching for four others who agreed to meet near your residence, so I send this in hopes of assistance in finding them. If what they say is true, I believe that the old friend of mine I've mentioned to you in the past may be accompanying them._

_Thank you. We should all meet for tea again soon, I've missed our talks._

_~ Hakyeon ~_

_P.S We ran out of sleeping serum and will probably need more soon, but don’t worry we’ll pay you back as soon as possible! Love ya! ~Jaehwannie 0u0_

“Who’s it from?” 

Seungcheol jumped at the sound of Jihoon’s voice directly next to him. He tsked at the younger then angled the letter so Jihoon could read it. 

“The VIXX sector,” said Seungcheol. Jihoon hummed in response, already halfway through reading it. He reached the end of the letter and slowly nodded.

“You think it's the same Taemin?” Seungcheol asked. 

“No way of telling until we ask him ourselves, but everything seems to line up.” Jihoon scratched at the back of his head and sighed. 

“We can send a response tomorrow. Starlight needs to rest anyway...and so do you.” Seungcheol poked Jihoon in the center of his forehead, only to have his hand swatted away.

“I will soon. I was just finishing up some work,” said Jihoon. He glanced at Starlight, who happily pecked at the feed in the birdhouse as the other two conversed. Jihoon pursed his lips as he reread the letter. Jaehwan’s note gave Jihoon the vague idea that they were handling a threat of sorts, and with Hakyeon’s tendency to understate problems he dealt with, there was no telling how big of a threat it was.

“They’ll be fine, but we should definitely check on them soon just in case,” said Seungcheol before Jihoon realized he was thinking aloud. Jihoon cocked his head to the side and shrugged off a chill from another breeze. Seungcheol was right, they were probably fine, though it didn’t stop the nagging feeling that something was off, but that would be a problem to deal with after the other members woke up and he slept for the bare minimum amount of time so he could think a little more clearly, Jihoon decided.

“Yeah.” Jihoon yawned, “Guess I’m gonna go wrap up some of the serum so we can send it over. See you in a couple of hours, you should go back to sleep too, you’ll need it.” he finished, and with that, his figure left Seungcheol’s side and disappeared down the corridor before the other could get out another word.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

“We’re screwed.”

Seungcheol stood in the front of the living room in a circle with Jeonghan, Soonyoung, Joshua, Jun, and Mingyu. A coldness ran through the air, and Jun couldn’t tell if it was simply the atmosphere or Seungcheol’s ability acting up again.

“I agree with Mingyu,” Jun added, breaking the following silence and earning a sigh from Jeonghan.

“If Hakyeon says they have it covered, then they probably do. He said it was a small issue,” said Jeonghan.

“Yeah, exactly. He and his men are scary as all hell. If even he considers it an issue, it's big. The last ‘issue’ they had ended up with Sanghyuk losing his-”Soonyoung cut himself off. He met Jeonghan’s gaze, one eyebrow raised in disapproval. 

“Nevermind. I’m just worried about them,” Soonyoung said, his voice slightly lower than before.

Jun’s eyes flickered between each person in the room, scanning each of their expressions. He caught each furrow of the brow, twitch in the lips, and uncomfortable shifting of weight. His gaze fell on Seungcheol, whose head was slightly tilted to the side as it always was when he was deep in thought.

“How about this?” Seungcheol began, “I’ll send a message back to Hakyeon later on today, and at the end of this week, Soonyoung, Jeonghan, and I will go to see them. We have to bring them supplies anyway,” Nobody spoke for a moment, but Seungcheol’s suggestion was met with slow nods and quiet hums of agreement.

“What about the others?” Jun asked, hardly louder than a whisper but still heard through the space between them.

“The ones in the sickbay?” asked Jeonghan.

“Yeah. If...if they do know each other, wouldn’t they want to come too? Or at least Taemin,” said Jun. He hadn’t spent much time actually speaking to the newcomers, but on the days that he had been keeping watch over them, he remembered catching snippets of their conversation. Jun could almost feel the weight on their shoulders when they mentioned the three they were missing, and he understood. While he joked around with the younger members of the SVT sector, after all their age gap wasn’t huge, but he still felt as though some of them were his younger brothers and if anything were to happen to them, he wouldn’t know how to handle himself...how to handle the guilt that follows.

“I suppose they would. Though if that’s the case, I feel like only one should come just for the sake of safety,” said Mingyu, shifting his weight between each leg.

“Mm. Can’t risk having all of them outside at once, especially since it hasn’t even been two weeks. Speaking of which, we should probably check on the others,” Soonyoung said.

“Right.”

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

_“You’re not going there.”_

_“There isn’t another choice!”_

_Taemin winced at the volume of his own voice, but remained in his spot and tried his best to ignore the rough feeling in his throat._

_“Please, Taemin,” said Kibum. He took a seat on the couch next to the younger and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. Taemin shrugged it off and rose to his feet. Kibum sighed but continued._

_“There are other ways to earn money, you don’t have to sign up. We all know that people don’t always come back from SM, and if they do they can’t live a peaceful life,” said Kibum._

_“We already aren’t living a peaceful life. There’s going to be a target on my back either way so I might as well take a chance. SM has a few successful ‘heroes’ and they received a considerable amount of money for making it through.” Taemin argued._

_“And you’ve also seen what has happened with Taekwoon. He barely made it here alive after they kicked him out. He can’t even show his face outside. You don’t know what will happen if you go in there, none of us do.” Kibum retorted, he clenched and unclenched his fists to stop them from shaking in what he figured was either frustration or the fear for Taemin’s life._

_“Well if I’m certain of one thing, we can’t keep stealing medicine for Jooheon like this without eventually getting caught, and by stopping that, we’re going to need money. A lot of it. And this is the quickest route.” said Taemin. A long, uncomfortable silence followed._

_Hakyeon moved from his spot on the wall and approached Taemin, stopping once he was a meter behind him. He closed his eyes and collected himself before speaking._

_“Taemin, please. We don’t want anything to happen to you. Once SM gets their hands on someone, they’re in it for life. We’re still searching for people who can help Jooheon, just let us wait for a short while longer before you jump straight into it, please.” Hakyeon pleaded. Taemin raised his hands in front of him, then lowered them at his sides and balled them up into fists._

_Waiting. The sheer mention of the word had him seconds away from snapping at both of them, but he restrained himself, instead taking in a deep breath and releasing it. He knew that they cared about him, and frankly if it were one of them he could admit that he’d oppose their decision, but damn it, they couldn’t afford to wait. Jooheon’s condition was worsening by the day and if they couldn’t do something soon then…_

_Taemin shook the thought from his head and grabbed a handful of his hair. He paced around for a few seconds before slumping back down onto the couch in what he hoped came off as defeat._

_“Fine! Fine. But if your contacts don’t find anything soon-” Taemin started, only to be cut off by Kibum._

_“We’ll figure something out then, okay? Let’s think through it together.” Kibum said, with his voice noticeably less strained than it was moments prior. Hakyeon sat down next to the two and Taemin let the older guide his head to his shoulder. They sat there in silence, with Hakyeon stroking the back of Taemin’s head and Kibum’s hand over his._

_…_

_The room was shrouded in darkness with only the soft glow of moonlight illuminating the edges of furniture. Taemin painstakingly moved from between the two sleeping boys on the couch. A sad smile crossed his features as Taemin took one last look at them. Kibum’s lips were parted with a barely audible snore, and Hakyeon’s face appeared to be relaxed aside from the slight furrow in his brows. Taemin leaned forward and carefully smoothed out the wrinkle with his thumb, smiling when the tense expression of the older was replaced with one of tranquility. Taemin slowly backed away from the couch and inched his way towards the door with careful steps, avoiding each creaky spot on the floor. Once out of the room, he flattened himself against the wall to the best of his ability and headed down the hall until he reached the room at the very end then carefully cracked open the door._

_On the wall opposite to the door was a bed piled with layers of blankets with a head of fluffy black hair poking out. Taemin approached the side of the bed and bent down to see Jooheon’s face. Taemin hadn’t missed the way Jooheon’s full and round face had been disappearing little by little as the days passed. The boy would smile whenever the others checked on him but with less energy each time and Taemin would be damned if he stood by and let it happen._

_“I’ll be back,” Taemin whispered._

_He placed a hand atop Jooheon’s head and began to stroke his hair. He stayed like that for a moment, then pulled away and without allowing himself to turn back, left the room, snuck out of the back door of Kibum’s home, and disappeared into the night._

Jihoon hadn’t expected the newcomers to loudly rejoice or anything at the news of their friends being located, but he hadn’t expected the three cold stares that met him and for Taemin to hardly spare him a glance. To be fair, he hadn’t given any details, and in retrospect, starting off with such a vague statement like ‘We found your friends.’ followed by nothing else probably wasn’t the best way to go about it, but the lack of reaction still shocked him a bit.

“You’re not going to ask where they are?” Minghao asked, leaning forward from his seat on the bench expectantly. 

“I mean, you all have been very…” Lucas swallowed then cleared his throat, “You all have been very kind to us but you could also be lying.” Lucas finished, avoiding eye contact.

Jihoon leaned back against the wall and released an exasperated sigh then rose to his feet. He reached into a pocket within his jacket and his hand emerged with his phone. He swiftly unlocked it and swiped through his gallery until he came across the picture he needed. It was candid, with Hakyeon, Jeonghan, and Kihyun, their friend from the MX sector, laughing at something over their respective cups of tea at a table in a cafe. Jihoon took another couple of steps towards Taemin, only to be stopped by Baekhyun stepping in his way. He resisted the urge to nudge the man aside, and instead settled on turning the phone around and holding it in the air from where he stood so the others could see the picture. 

“The Oasis is made up of different groups all connected in a network. There’s us, SVT, and a few others scattered around in different places. Our associate in the mountains sent us a letter saying your friends are with him, and that based on what they’ve said...Taemin, do you recognize this man?” Jihoon pressed, holding the phone out a bit further. Taemin didn’t speak. His empty eyes stared straight ahead. Jihoon took a deep breath before trying again.

“His name is Hakyeon. Cha Hakyeon. Do you know him?” Jihoon repeated, emphasizing each syllable of Hakyeon’s name. 

Taemin’s gaze snapped towards Jihoon, then to the phone and he stared at it with an intensity that Seungkwan hadn’t seen once in the days he spent taking care of them.

“Cha Hakyeon,” said Taemin, barely louder than a whisper.

In the blink of an eye, Taemin had lifted himself from the bed and towered over Jihoon, but his eyes remained on the phone screen. Jihoon heard the shuffling of a few people behind him but was too distracted by the way Taemin wasn’t standing in front of him, no, the man was hovering a good two feet off the ground. 

Taemin all but snatched Jihoon’s phone from him and held it inches from his face, scanning over every detail of the image. A hand laid on his shoulder, and Jihoon felt a wave of anxiety come over him, but it wasn’t his own. 

“Jihoon, what do we do?” came Seokmin’s voice from next to Jihoon. 

“You do know him,” said Jihoon, ignoring the panicked Seokmin trying to pull him away from Taemin. After a long pause, Taemin nodded and inch by inch, he slowly descended onto his feet.

“...Yes,” he said. He was distant, not all there as though he were struggling to recall a memory, but his eyes were less vacant than they were for the last week. Behind him, Baekhyun, Kai, and Lucas appeared equally confused as everyone else in the room. Baekhyun stepped forward and peered over Taemin’s shoulder to see the picture.

“So now what? How do we get to them or vice versa? Are they alright?” Kai asked. 

“Seungcheol is figuring that out now. And there’s one more thing,” said Jihoon, pinching his nose bridge.

“What is it?” Taemin asked. He hesitantly held the phone out towards Jihoon, who took it and shoved it back into his pocket.

“In the letter, he mentioned there was a ‘small issue’ with one of them but that he has it under control,” Jihoon stated. 

“Oh no,” said Minghao, a bit louder than intended. He shifted uncomfortably as four pairs of eyes locked onto him. 

“What?” Baekhyun spat. 

“Nothing! Everything is probably fine. It's just that sometimes what Hakyeon considers small...isn’t?” Seokmin interjected, his voice growing quieter the longer he spoke. 

“So are they safe or not?” Baekhyun pressed.

“They are,” Seungkwan intersected, he shot a warning glare at Seokmin, “...and that is a habit of his, but it’s only because he’s dealt with worse over the years. So whatever is going on, if he doesn’t consider it a big deal then it’s probably already been taken care of.” 

“Anyway,” Jihoon said, dragging out each syllable, “Seungcheol just texted. He asked for us to come to the living room.”

Seokmin let his hand fall from Jihoon’s shoulder as he and the others began to file out of the room. He dragged his feet as he made his way to the empty bed next to Lucas’s and sat down. His shoulders sagged and he closed his eyes. The air was saturated with a mix of anxiety, irritation, and a tinge of guilt but Seokmin couldn’t tell which emotion belonged to which person anymore and had given up on trying. As each person left the room, the weight gradually began to leave until he could only feel himself and two others who had lingered behind. A hand came to rest in the crook of his shoulder and began rubbing circles into the back of his neck. Seokmin opened his eyes and saw Minghao standing in front of him, worriedly looking down at him.

“Is he- Are you okay?” Lucas said, shifting his weight between each leg. His eyes flickered between Minghao and Seokmin, waiting for a response from either. Seokmin grinned and waved his hand, though the smile didn’t reach his eyes.

“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just a little overwhelming sometimes,” said Seokmin.

“Especially when everyone’s stressed out like this. I’m sorry,” Minghao added, cupping Seokmin’s face with his other hand and rubbing his cheekbone with his thumb. Seokmin lightly shook his head.

“It’s alright. I have to get used to it if I ever want to go back out into the city.” Seokmin said, wrapping his arms around Minghao's waist.

“That’s understandable...while it’s not really the same it gets like that for me sometimes too. With the uh, hearing...and all.” Lucas said, awkwardly gesturing to his ear. He shoved his hands into his pockets and began to rock back and forth on his heels.

“How do you usually deal with it...when it becomes too much?” Lucas asked. Seokmin shrugged.

“I’m still working on it. I usually try to focus on the calmest person in the room but it doesn’t always work. At least I can do that though, it must be awful having to deal with that all the time. If you don’t mind me asking, is it constant?” Seokmin asked.

“Well, yeah, but I guess I’m used to the smaller things unless I pay attention. Like heartbeats or say…” Lucas paused for a moment and tilted his head, concentrating for a moment then turning his attention back to Seokmin, “The leaves rustling outside. It becomes background noise unless I listen for it, but I'd be lying if I said it wasn’t overwhelming at times.” he said. Seokmin smiled and took Minghao’s hand as he stood up. With the absence of the others, the head pain had faded to a dull ache. 

“We should probably get going before Seungkwan starts to complain...but thank you a lot for telling me. I appreciate it,” said Seokmin. 

“You’re thanking me?” Lucas asked, raising an eyebrow, “I didn’t do anything.” Seokmin chuckled to himself and took a few steps toward Lucas.

“The guys have helped a lot, don’t get me wrong, they try their best to help me through it, but it’s nice to have another person who goes through it firsthand. Misery loves company, I guess. Anyhow, if you ever need help or want to talk then we’re open. All of us, but don’t force yourself if you don’t want to, we don’t want to make you uncomfortable.” said Seokmin, followed by a bright smile. Lucas huffed and a crooked grin spread across his face. The moment only lasted a few seconds as Minghao firmly placed his hands on both of their shoulders and began to usher them towards the door, though his lips were upturned at the ends in a barely visible grin.

“This is nice and all but Jihoon will come and drag all of us in there himself if we don’t hurry. Let’s go.” Minghao said. The nervous feeling began to pool in Lucas’s gut again, the task at hand coming back into full focus, but with one last squeeze on the shoulder from Seokmin, he released an exhale and shook his head, instantly feeling more clear-headed. He widened his steps and picked up his pace, approaching their unknown future with a fraction of more confidence than before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay. As you all know, a lot has been going on in the world and things are uncertain, but no worries I've been trying my best to stay safe. It was just a little hard to get the motivation to write when things are so bleak. However, I hope this chapter made your day at least a bit better. Thank you so much for reading up until now :D 
> 
> Don't forget, Black Lives Matter, stay safe and stay healthy!


	12. Remorse

Seokmin’s relief didn’t last for long as the emotions of the other fifteen men in the living room flooded into him at once. To his luck, Hansol was seated on the sofa to Seokmin’s left while Wonwoo took a seat on his right. There was still tension strung through both of them, but they typically remained calmer than the rest and it was just enough to keep Seokmin from going into overdrive. 

“I’ve sent a reply to Hakyeon and later this week, Jeonghan, Soonyoung, and I will head to the mountains to deliver materials. While discussing it earlier, Jun suggested asking if any of you would like to accompany us. However, for the sake of safety, we can only afford to take two of you for now.” said Seungcheol. 

Seungcheol’s eyes quickly passed over the Super M members and stopped for a moment on Taemin before he averted his eyes. Seokmin felt a surge of conflict and uncertainty ripple from Taemin, there were layers of guilt and sheer regret at the core of it. It was raw, harshly ripping through the presence of Hansol and Wonwoo, and Seokmin swore he felt the weight in his chest but Taemin’s face remained neutral and calm with only a fraction of visible discomfort.

Nervously, Lucas wrung his hands and eyed Taemin. After a brief moment of trying to determine the other’s expression, Lucas straightened his posture and wiped his clammy hands on his thighs.

“Taemin and Kai should go,” said Lucas.

“No,” Taemin immediately retorted, his eyes widening with fear.

“He said that he knows you, right? And Mark, Ten, and Taeyong are there. Isn’t...isn’t this a good thing?” Lucas asked, his brows knit together in confusion. Taemin shook his head and raised his hands, making unclear gestures as though he were physically trying to grasp his words.

“You don’t understand, I can’t-...” Taemin clasped his hands together behind his head then forcefully brought them down in fists onto his thighs. 

“I can’t see him,” he shakily sputtered. Seungcheol looked at the Super M members, scanning them for an answer, but they appeared as confused as he was. From his spot beside Kai, Soonyoung inched closer and leaned sideways, barely, but enough to whisper without those on the other side of the room hearing.

“Do you know what he means?” Soonyoung muttered.

“He’s never mentioned anyone by that name before,” Kai whispered back, his eyes still locked onto Taemin. Jun shuffled a few steps forward and squatted down next to the chair Taemin was sitting in. He leaned in an attempt to see Taemin’s face, but Taemin turned his head away after making brief eye contact. 

“I don’t know what happened, but it might be better to try talking to him about whatever happened,” said Jun. From a few feet away, Joshua nodded in agreement.

“We may not know him as well as you do, but for the last few years, the VIXX sector has been a strong ally to us. Hakyeon has helped us out of difficult situations in the past, and even when times were rough, he never stopped looking for you.” Joshua said. 

“What?” Taemin stood up and glided forward, stopping less than a meter from Joshua. Jun scrambled backward just in time to avoid the tipped over chair that Taemin sat in seconds prior. By instinct, Jeonghan moved between the two, partially hiding Joshua from Taemin’s view. 

“Watch it,” said Jeonghan through grit teeth only to be ignored by Taemin.

“Why did he do that? He wasted time looking for me when he was supposed to...ugh!” Taemin all but yelled at no one in particular. Baekhyun pushed himself from the wall and walked towards Taemin, holding up his hands cautiously. 

“Taemin, can you explain what you’re talking about first?” Baekhyun questioned. 

“He should’ve been helping Jooheon instead!”

Taemin whipped his head towards Baekhyun, glaring, then appeared to catch himself and his eyes flickered around the room, catching the mix of appalled, confused, and mildly frightened expressions across the room. His words caught up with him, and he brought his hand up just short of his mouth after realizing the name that had left his lips.

“I’m sorry,” Taemin slowly began to step backward, flinching when he accidentally bumped into Mingyu. 

“It’s okay, it’s okay. You don’t have to see him if you aren’t ready,” said Mingyu, struggling to keep his own voice level. Taemin sighed and put his hands on his waist then lowered his head. 

“You said you’re leaving at the end of this week, right?” Kai asked, earning a nod from Seungcheol. He turned his attention to Taemin. 

“You still have some time to think about it,” Kai suggested. Taemin raised his head and looked at Kai, then Baekhyun and Lucas. He slowly nodded then turned away, focusing on a nail in the wall so he wouldn’t have to meet any of the fourteen pairs of eyes on him.

“Yeah,” said Taemin, his tone dry. Heads rotated, looking at the others in the room, waiting for someone else to speak until Soonyoung came forward.

“What about you three?” Soonyoung asked. The three exchanged glances, communicating through mere tilts of the head and narrowed eyes before coming to an unspoken agreement.

“I’ll go,” said Kai after a pause, “If I’m taken to where the place is, I can teleport there and back later and save time.” 

“How many people can you take at once?” Jeonghan asked with genuine interest.

“Including myself, four is the most I’ve tried so far,” Kai replied.

“And it left you unconscious for days,” Seungkwan cut in, then clicked his tongue in disapproval.

“I got caught in an explosion so of course I couldn’t use it in full. I’m fine now,” Kai waved his hand, dismissing the statement.

“So, it’s settled,” Soonyoung clapped his hands together, ignoring Seungkwan’s scoff, “For now,” He added after glancing at Taemin.

“Great. Soonyoung, Jeonghan, and Kai, can you meet me in the Blue Room? Everyone else can go on with their day, thank you for gathering.” Seungcheol said with a faint grin. Various nods and murmurs passed through the room as everyone filtered out and left to their respective spaces, aside from Seungkwan who murmured something under his breath about lack of safety and running low on medical supplies. Kai gave Taemin one last concerned glance, then proceeded to follow Jeonghan out, leaving only Seungcheol, Lucas, and Baekhyun, with a hesitant Seokmin standing in the doorway, only leaving after Minghao quietly insisted for him to rest. 

Seungcheol stepped around the tipped over chair and raised his hand to pat Taemin’s shoulder as he usually would for one of the others, but quickly retracted it and let his arm swing at his side. Taemin had appeared to calm down but based on the panic attacks that Seokmin would have from time to time, he learned that physical contact wasn’t the best option, so he’d play it safe for now, but he’d still ask the question burning at the back of his mind.

“You said that he should have helped Jooheon. By any chance, did you mean Lee Jooheon? From the Southeast quadrant of the city?” Seungcheol questioned. Taemin tensed.

“Yes.”

Seungcheol eyed Lucas and Baekhyun, who stood a bit of a distance away but had their attention locked onto Taemin as they expectantly waited for him to continue.

“He’s alive and well,” Seungcheol stated, with an air of relief in his tone as Taemin turned on his heel to face him.

“What?” Taemin took another step towards Seungcheol, “He’s alive?” his voice wavered.

“Yes. He’s a part of the MX unit and he’s...he’s been healed. Kihyun had to nullify his ability so he can’t use it, but he’s okay now.” Seungcheol smiled as the tension in Taemin’s body instantly left, but he hadn’t been expecting the two hands firmly planted on his shoulders, lightly shaking him back and forth.

“Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much, this is…” Taemin lowered his head and blinked away the wateriness in his eyes.

“Taemin, who’s Jooheon?” Baekhyun asked, stepping forward. Taemin removed his hands from Seungcheol’s shoulders.

“He’s...an old friend of mine. Before I signed up for SM, I used to live with a small circle of people who helped those who were left on the streets, whether it be out of SM or other..situations. I met Jooheon there. He was like a brother to me.” A small, hollow grin spread across Taemin’s face, his voice grew quieter as he spoke. He hesitated before continuing, “His mother was involved with SM before she passed away and her ability was passed down to him. It was supposed to be energy regulation, but it began to eat away at him. He was...he was dying. We stole medicine and supplies since it was too expensive otherwise, but the risk got higher every time so...I enlisted. And they-, they didn’t know.”

Lucas stood there with his mouth gaping, opening and closing but he couldn’t find the words, and frankly neither could Baekhyun. He’d known Taemin for about five years, and he’d never spoken of his past aside from vague, shortened answers before quickly changing the focus of the conversation to something else, he didn’t even have the chance to see the younger suffering, therefore not knowing how to comfort him. So there he stood, baffled in the middle of the living room with nothing to say.

“Oh,” was the only thing that left Baekhyun’s lips. 

“ _Oh,_ ” came Lucas’s voice.

“Oh!” Lucas repeated, his eyes widened, “Then if anything...you should definitely go.” 

Taemin pursed his lips and looked at Lucas with the unspoken question clearly shown on his face.

_Did you not hear what I just said?_

“I can’t see him after what I pulled. I wouldn’t blame any of them if they didn’t want to see me again,” Taemin insisted. 

“Joshua wasn’t making that up. Hakyeon really hasn’t stopped looking for you, even when he was finding help for Jooheon. He’ll be so relieved once he realizes that he’s finally found you.” said Seungcheol. For a long moment, Taemin didn’t reply. The two voices in his head clashed together, tipping the balance back and forth between believing Seungcheol or dismissing the thought as a whole. Debating whether he should see Hakyeon and apologize or continue to run. He took another look at Lucas and Baekhyun. 

They hadn’t had anybody they could return to, not yet, at least. Not with the possibility of them being marked as rogues. Taemin was sure that if Baekhyun was given the chance to reunite with his sister, or Lucas with his aunt, they would seize the opportunity while they could, yet here Taemin stood, seconds away from ruining one of his only chances. By avoiding him, he’d be flushing Hakyeon’s goal of the last six years down the drain. He knew that he couldn’t undo his actions. He knew that he was the reason Hakyeon and Kibum worked so hard, and the nagging urge to run itched at the back of his mind but Taemin pushed it down, suppressing it to the best of his ability. There was no going back now. 

“Okay,” Taemin slowly nodded, “I’ll go.”

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

“Ow!”

“Watch where you’re going!” 

Ten raised himself to a kneel before pushing himself fully upright with his hands. He resisted the urge to snap back at Hongbin, instead brushing the dirt off his hands and returning to his previous stance, ignoring the ache in his side where Sanghyuk had hit him. Sanghyuk and Jaehwan stood a few meters from the two, both appearing equally uninterested.

“Can you guys hurry up? I’m getting bored.” Jaehwan groaned. 

“ _I’m_ trying. He’s the one that can’t keep up.” Hongbin sneered, pointing a thumb at Ten.

“I’m the one that can’t keep up? You’re the one who just bumped into me because your sense of balance is off.” Ten retorted. Sanghyuk dropped the red rubber ball in his hand onto the ground and caught it as it bounced back up. He tossed it to Jaehwan then picked up the foam tube that Jaehwan used for the previous round. 

“One more time then we take a break,” said Sanghyuk. Jaehwan blew a raspberry but returned to his previous stance nonetheless and began the countdown.

“3…” 

Ten took a step forward.

“2…”

Jaehwan bounced the ball once more.

“You get Jaehwan. I get Sanghyuk.” Hongbin ordered. Ten rolled his eyes and shook his head as he lowered his hands, his fingers barely brushing the dry, brittle grass.

“1… Go!” 

Ten charged towards Jaehwan and lunged for the ball, narrowly missing it as Jaehwan stepped to the side. He skidded to a stop and pushed himself off of his right foot, swinging a punch aimed at Jaehwan’s side, only to have Jaehwan catch it with his empty hand. 

Jaehwan twisted Ten’s arm behind his back, grip strong enough to be uncomfortable and keep Ten there but not enough to cause pain. Air rushed in Ten’s face for a moment before he hit the ground. He briefly gasped for air and coughed, trying to regain the wind that had been knocked from his lungs.

“You’ve gotta be quicker than that. I could’ve seen that coming from a mile away.” Jaehwan sighed. In Ten’s struggle to wriggle from under Jaehwan’s foot, he spotted Hongbin trying to wrangle the foam tube from Sanghyuk. He looked back up at Jaehwan, whose eyes flickered to the scuffle between the other two. A second was just enough time.

Ten lifted his foot and swiftly brought it backward, kicking Jaehwan in the shin. The latter hastily lifted his foot from Ten’s back and stepped back, properly balancing himself.

“ _Motherfucker,_ ” Jaehwan hissed. Ten began to heave himself to his feet.

“Sanghyuk!” Jaehwan called, then chucked the ball.

Sanghyuk planted his palm firmly on Hongbin’s face and pushed him back, then snatched the ball from the air. Ten slipped under Jaehwan’s arm and bolted towards Sanghyuk with his arm outstretched. 

Just as he came within arm’s reach of Sanghyuk, Jaehwan’s arms looped around his chest and yanked him backward. Sanghyuk slipped the ball into his pocket and with one smooth movement swung the foam tube and hit Hongbin in the gut with a solid _thwump_. 

Hongbin stumbled back, clutching his abdomen and struggled to stand up straight. Sanghyuk turned his attention to Ten’s thrashing and wound up the tube like a baseball bat. Ten’s flailing weakened slightly as the exhaustion from the last three rounds began to catch up with him, and was stopped completely as the foam tube whacked him in the same spot Sanghyuk had hit Hongbin in. 

It hurt like nothing he’d felt before.

Or perhaps it was just the shock of feeling like he’d been hit in the stomach with a steel beam rather than a foam tube. No, he’d definitely felt worse, Ten thought after a second, but his thoughts were cut off by the wave of nausea that washed over him. Had it not been for Jaehwan holding him, he would have crumpled to the ground right then and there. 

Sanghyuk stepped back just in time to avoid the vomit that splattered against the grass. He grimaced as Ten heaved the last of his breakfast onto the ground. He pulled away from Jaehwan and braced his hands on his knees as his gags faded. 

“Ew. Yeah, no that’s enough for today. Did you have to hit him that hard?” Jaehwan put a finger to his nose as the unpleasant smell began to rise.

“If he ends up fighting anyone again for real they're not gonna pull their punches.” Sanghyuk shrugged. Hongbin punched Sanghyuk in the shoulder and shoved his way past him. 

“You’re right but it still hurts like a bitch. Ugh, this is why I’m a medic.” Hongbin grumbled.

“You hit him so you’re cleaning this up, right?” Jaehwan asked, though it sounded more like a statement than a question.

“We can just leave it.” 

“It’s gonna stink up the yard,” Hongbin complained.

“Fine. Take him inside,” Sanghyuk deadpanned. Jaehwan hummed happily and obeyed, making sure Ten didn’t tip over as they slowly trudged back to the front door.

Ten turned his head just enough to watch as Sanghyuk splayed his palm against the ground, moving it an inch or two before appearing to find the right spot. He raised his hand then slammed it down, and the sickly pile sunk into the dirt as though it were being sucked in until it completely disappeared. Wiry, green stems with white buds uncurled as they emerged from the spot, spreading in different directions. The buds bloomed and although Ten was a considerable distance away by now, he could see the telltale yellow center and long white petals.

They were daisies.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

“I’m uh... I’m not like, doubting them or anything but I thought you said they were holding back,” said Mark. He scratched the back of his head as he stared out the window of the living room, watching Hongbin and Ten scramble around trying to obtain the rubber ball from Sanghyuk and Jaehwan. They’d been out there for a little less an hour now, only ending a match when someone needed a moment to recuperate. 

“They are,” said Hakyeon from his spot on the couch. His knees were slightly bent due to his legs being just a bit too long to fit without having to prop his feet up on the arm of the couch. He watched them with a fond smile, propping his head on his hand.

“Mn. Jaehwan’s gotten soft,” Taekwoon emerged from the kitchen with four metal bottles of water, slightly foggy on the outside due to the condensation. He set the bottles by the door and rubbed the excess water from his hands onto his jeans. 

“Would you like to go out there instead?” Hakyeon teased. 

“No. I’m tired,” Taekwoon replied, putting on what Mark could've sworn was a fake pout. 

Over the past two weeks, he’d seen his fair share of Taekwoon losing his cold exterior when it came to Hakyeon, or any of the younger ones really, especially Jaehwan and Sanghyuk despite the latter refusing Taekwoon’s affection most of if not all of the time. But every time Mark saw it, he couldn’t help but feel like he was intruding even though it appeared to be the norm here.

Taekwoon slunk over to the couch and plopped down to emphasize his point, shifting until he found a comfortable spot with his head on Hakyeon’s chest and his arms wrapped around his torso then released a content hum. By habit, Hakyeon brought a hand up and began stroking Taekwoon’s hair.

A loud thump followed by a retching noise caught Mark’s attention and he whipped his head towards the source. Ten was holding himself up with his hands on his knees as he vomited onto the ground in front of him. 

“Ten!” Mark fumbled for a second, his brain caught between watching and making a beeline for the door, but Hakyeon interrupted his thoughts.

“Ai...Sanghyuk.” Hakyeon tsked without having to look out the window. With a bit of struggle, Hakyeon eventually maneuvered his way from Taekwoon’s hold, causing the latter to complain under his breath. He took long strides to the door and opened it, standing with a hand on his hip and he watched them clamor over who would clean it up. 

Hongbin was the first to begin staggering towards the house, followed by Jaehwan whose hands hovered near Ten in case he needed to support his weight. Mark rushed by Hakyeon, not bothering to put on shoes and ran in his socks across the yard to Ten. 

“Sanghyuk! I’m going to take away the tube if you can’t handle it!” Hakyeon called. Sanghyuk’s shoulders tensed, but reluctantly, he faced the house and grumbled under his breath as he began walking back. 

Had it not been for Ten’s current state, Mark would’ve found it entertaining how Sanghyuk slightly shrunk in on himself when Hakyeon scolded him.

“Are you okay?” Mark asked as soon as he was by Ten’s side. Ten nodded and waved him off while keeping his other hand over his stomach. 

“Yeah, I’m good. I can hardly feel it now, don't worry.” Ten assured, though it didn’t sound convincing due to the raspiness in his voice. 

“Must be nice to be able to heal yourself, but you should also be able to handle pain in case that doesn’t work,” said Hongbin with the usual amount of salt. Hakyeon stepped aside, letting them walk in before he went outside to further reprimand Sanghyuk.

“Oh, I can handle it. Unlike some people I’m not a little bi- thanks, Taekwoon,” said Ten as he picked up a water bottle and unscrewed it, taking a long sip to soothe the burning in his throat. 

“Your welcome. Mark, socks off. No tracking dirt.” said Taekwoon, still laying on the couch. 

“Right, my bad,” Mark said, hurriedly taking off his socks and balling them up then coming inside. 

“You’re so lucky that Hakyeon likes you enough to keep you,” Hongbin seethed, then yelped as a slipper flew in a blur across the room and smacked him in the side of the head. He turned his head towards Taekwoon, whose hand had retracted as quickly as he’d thrown the slipper, and scowled before disappearing down the hall towards Ravi’s office.

“Gonna go brush my teeth, ugh,” Ten grunted, shuffling towards the stairs. 

“You sure you’re good?” Mark asked, trailing behind him.

“Yeah, yeah. Can you check on Taeyong though?” Ten asked. Mark blanked for a moment, then nodded.

“Uh...sure. Yeah. On it.” said Mark, though Ten was already halfway up the stairs. 

He turned around to tell Taekwoon he was leaving, but ended up gaping as he tried to talk over the scuffle in front of him, with Taekwoon and Sanghyuk struggling to wrangle each other into a hug, or maybe a chokehold, yes, it was definitely a chokehold with the way Sanghyuk’s arm was making its way around Taekwoon’s neck though Taekwoon almost seemed to be enjoying it. Mark figured it was due to getting the least bit of attention from Sanghyuk, whether it was negative or positive. He learned by now it was better to not even try to figure out the way the VIXX unit showed affection and he wasn’t sure if he wanted a part of it.

“Right...Hakyeon?” Mark raised his voice just enough to be heard over Sanghyuk’s struggling.

“Yes?” Hakyeon replied, stepping over the two wrestling bodies that had inevitably fallen to the floor in the middle of their antics. 

“I was gonna go see Taeyong. He’s still in the studio, right?” Mark asked.

“Yes,” Hakyeon bent down and curled an arm around Taekwoon’s waist, then proceeded to drag him away from Sanghyuk without any visible strain, “Ten removed most of the toxins but the residue may leave him more vulnerable and easily frightened so take caution. Wouldn’t want to trigger anything, hm?”

“Will do,” Mark said. Mark’s hand barely grazed over the railing of the staircase before he heard Taekwoon call his name. 

“Yes?” Mark halted in his tracks and waited. Taekwoon watched as Sanghyuk stood up and brushed the creases from his clothes before entering the kitchen and scrounging the cabinets for food. 

“Can you tell Ten to come back down after he’s done?” Taekwoon asked. 

“Yeah,” Mark replied with a short nod, earning a small but grateful grin from Taekwoon. 

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Not enough blue. 

Taeyong frowned and smeared his paint-coated hand across the canvas, leaving a sky blue trail over the medley of green and yellow hues. It was still missing something. Taeyong wiped the acrylic from his hand using a damp washcloth. 

Red.

It could use warmer tones, Taeyong figured, but he cringed at the thought of crimson being spread across the canvas. He placed the cloth aside and rotated his wrist to view the underside of his forearm. The tendrils of deep red had almost completely faded, but the memory of it was unpleasant nonetheless. He rubbed at his wrist and sighed, thankful. 

Hakyeon had removed the handcuffs only a few days prior despite the protests he received from Hongbin, but honestly, Taeyong couldn’t find it in himself to blame him. He didn’t remember much of anything before he woke up then, but based on what he’d been told, it might be better that he didn’t. Taeyong had apologized but he couldn’t be upset if Hongbin didn’t accept it quite yet. After all, had it not been for Ten’s interference…

Taeyong cleared his throat and rotated his shoulders, working out the muscles that had stiffened in the last hour of hunching over the canvas. He reclined and laid on his back, unfocusing his eyes and forcing himself free of his thoughts. He’d just fallen into a comfortable stare as the door to the studio clicked open. 

He scrambled to his feet and immediately straightened his posture, but was only met with an equally startled Mark.

“Sorry,” Mark mumbled. His eyes left Taeyong’s and focused behind him on the most recent painting propped up against the wall. 

“How’s it coming?” Mark asked, though his question was already answered by the array of abstract pieces scattered around Taeyong’s feet. 

“...Okay.” Taeyong answered, picking up the painting he’d just been working on, “I’m still getting used to working with these types of paints, but it's really nice that he let me use them.” 

Mark took a quick look around the room and nodded. The walls were almost completely covered in framed paintings, most of them with Jaehwan’s signature in the corner aside from the select few signed “YJ”, whoever that may be.

“And how are you doing?” Mark fully entered the room and quietly shut the door behind him. Taeyong sat back down and placed the painting to the side with the rest. He didn’t respond for a moment.

“I... don't know,” Taeyong said. Mark simply sat down a few feet in front of him and folded his hands, waiting for Taeyong to continue. 

“It’s almost gone but I still can’t remember anything after the last...session. And I still can’t properly use my ability.” Taeyong raised his hand next to his face. He snapped his fingers and winced as his body appeared to warp and waver in overlapping images before returning back to normal with a sound akin to deep television static. 

“There’s no pain, just discomfort,” Taeyong assured after seeing Mark’s conflicted expression. He shivered as the aftereffects rippled through his body. 

“You should still be careful,” said Mark. Taeyong only offered half a shrug as a response as he began screwing the caps back onto the open tubes of paint. 

“How was training?” Taeyong asked.

“Fine,” Mark said a little too quickly. Taeyong only had to stare at him for a few seconds to cause him to shift uncomfortably and begin speaking again.

“Well, Taekwoon had me sit out because of my ankle and I told him it was fine, but not gonna lie he can still be kind of scary- anyway, ah, Sanghyuk accidentally hit Ten in the stomach too hard and he vomited but Ten’s fine now.” Mark spat out in a single breath. 

“He _what?_ ”

Mark placed his hands on Taeyong’s knees before the latter could get up. 

“Wait, wait, wait, don’t go anywhere, it was really an accident, Hakyeon already got on him about it,” said Mark. 

“Where’s Ten?” Taeyong brushed Mark’s hands off of him and rose. Mark rushed to stand and barely made it to the door to block Taeyong.

“Bathroom. But before you leave you gotta calm down.”

“Don’t tell me to calm down!” 

Taeyong caught the words as soon as they left him and sighed, taking hold of Mark’s hands. He took a few deep breaths before speaking.

“I’m sorry. That wasn’t...no.”

Mark lowered his head, focusing on their hands to avoid making eye contact with Taeyong. 

“I know. It’s fine-” 

“No, it’s not. I can’t keep using that as an excuse. You’re right, I need to have more control over it.” Taeyong cut in.

“It’s not your fault that it hasn’t completely gone away yet. I know it’s really hard to deal with it, much less control what’s left,” said Mark. 

“Yeah, but we can’t afford to clash with them right now. I’m sorry.” Taeyong repeated. Mark forced a grin on his face and squeezed Taeyong’s hands tighter.

“Don’t worry about it. You’re doing well. And besides, seeing as their uh… ‘team-building’ exercise didn't work out we really should check on them, and get you something to eat, you’ve been in here all day.” Mark let go of Taeyong’s hands and slung an arm around his shoulder, “How does that sound?”

Taeyong slowly nodded and used both of his hands to hold onto Mark’s. He fiddled with his fingers for a moment before slowly nodding to himself and facing Mark once more.

“...Good. It sounds good.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the wait. This one is a bit longer in length than so in turn I took more time in trying to write and edit it. I hope it was worth it, or at least cohesive. Maybe its because I've been staring at it for too long...huh. Do you guys prefer more frequent updates with shorter chapters or waiting but having a longer chapter like this? Let me know^^


	13. Disguises

A hand lightly patted Taemin’s shoulder, causing him to jump in surprise. He looked up and was met with a small apologetic grin from Kai. 

“All ready to go?” Kai asked. 

Taemin pulled the coat that Mingyu lent him closer to his body. It was too large on Taemin, and the weather was warm at the time but Soonyoung had warned them that the night would grow cold.

“Yeah,” Taemin said after a brief pause.

Both of them knew it was a lie, but to Taemin’s relief, Kai didn’t comment on it and simply rubbed his shoulder sympathetically.

“Here.” 

A warm thermos was nudged against Taemin’s hand. He raised his head to see that the thermos was held by Joshua, whose catlike features formed a kind, albeit slightly forced smile. Taemin wrapped his hands around the thermos and took it from him, muttering his gratitude. Joshua took another thermos from the wooden carrier he held and offered it to Kai, who accepted it with a small nod.

“Thank you,” said Kai. 

“No problem,” Joshua replied, glancing at the carrier. Three more to go.

Joshua waded through the crowded hall with the wooden carrier low at his side bumping against his leg. He stood on his tiptoes, struggling to see over Mingyu and Jun’s shoulders, before lightly nudging them aside as he made his way around them and headed towards Seungcheol, Jeonghan, and Baekhyun. 

Upon approaching them, Joshua lifted the carrier with both hands and held it out a bit to catch their attention. Jeonghan ceased conversation with the other two and draped an arm around Joshua’s shoulder. 

“Thank you, sweetie,” said Jeonghan, ruffling Joshua’s hair before he grabbed a thermos. Seungcheol and Baekhyun took their respective thermos and briefly gave their thanks. 

“Everything’s set?” Joshua asked, lowering the empty carrier.

“Yes, well, almost. Still deciding on the disguises for those two,” Jeonghan said.

“Ah…” Joshua took a quick look at Kai and Taemin then nodded. 

From an outsider’s eye, they just looked like two young men, unlike Baekhyun and his silver hair, both of them had black hair that nearly covered their eyes when left down and didn’t have any facial scars or birthmarks. They didn’t appear much different than a couple of college students, but Joshua knew that SM used facial recognition in the past and it didn’t seem like they’d let up soon. 

“It’s cold so you can probably get away with giving them large scarves and just change from the eyes up. Plus, it’ll be less of a strain on you,” Joshua offered. 

“How long can you keep it up?” Baekhyun asked.

“For myself, as long as I want, but with all five of us…” Jeonghan cocked his head to the side and hummed as he thought about it, “maybe six hours. Seven max.” 

“It’s an hour’s walk to the MX base. From there they can give us a lift and we can get to the VIXX base in about three hours on the Cycles,” Seungcheol clarified, seeing the question on Baekhyun’s face before the latter could ask aloud. 

“Alright,” said Baekhyun, the strain barely evident in his tone but still present enough to be caught by Seungcheol. 

“We’ll keep them safe,” Seungcheol assured, making direct eye contact with Baekhyun. 

Baekhyun didn’t have time to respond as a loud voice cut through the crowd.

“I’ve got the serum packed up and ready to go. We should head out soon,” Soonyoung announced, patting the black backpack on his shoulder. He slipped around the cluster of members and leaned on the rail of the ramp leading to the door.

“One moment. Kai and Taemin, could you come here for a moment? You too, Soonyoung,” Jeonghan called. Once the three arrived, Jeonghan took a step back and gave them a once-over. 

“Okay, Soonyoung, come here,” said Jeonghan, stepping towards Soonyoung. 

He placed a hand atop the crown of Soonyoung’s head and shortly after, auburn spread from his roots and covered any blonde that had been there prior. His features instantly sharpened and his previously brown eyes were a muted green. 

“That’ll do. Seungcheol...” Jeonghan spun on his heel and faced Seungcheol, giving him the opposite treatment, lightening his hair and eyes to a pale blue and rounding out the sharp lines in his face. 

Jeonghan rubbed his hands together and faced Kai and Taemin.

“Do you want anything in particular?” Jeonghan asked.

No response. Kai’s mouth opened and closed for a moment as he struggled to find his words.

“For your disguises. You can’t go out looking like that, not right after getting out of there,” Jeonghan continued. Taemin was too busy staring at Seungcheol in a mix of confusion and mild awe, so Kai spoke.

“I mean, not really. Whatever you think is best,” said Kai.

“In that case- ah, is it okay to touch your head?” Jeonghan asked, stopping his hand before it touched Kai. 

“Yeah, it’s okay. Thanks,” Kai replied. Jeonghan glanced at Taemin, who gave a short nod in agreement.

With that, Jeonghan tapped the top of Kai’s head with two nimble fingers, completely changing his appearance. Unlike Seungcheol and Soonyoung, his features weren’t simply altered, instead, a completely different man stood before them. 

“Whose face did you use?” Joshua asked.

Joshua squinted as he tried to remember if he’d seen the face before. It felt familiar, but he wasn’t quite sure. 

“Remember my friend, Hyojin?” Jeonghan replied. 

“I’ve seen that guy like, twice. So not really,” said Soonyoung. 

Jeonghan ignored him and took a step to the side so he stood in front of Taemin. He leaned from side to side, observing Taemin’s stature. His body was covered in layers of warm garments, but his exposed collarbones and the portion of his face not hidden by his bangs was defined by unnaturally sharp angles, emphasizing how gaunt and haggard he appeared despite the last two weeks of being able to eat and rest more.

“I might use Hyunwoo for you,” said Jeonghan.

“Can’t wait to see his reaction when we show up with a clone of him,” Soonyoung snorted. Jeonghan chuckled and shook his head before going through with Taemin’s transformation.

“There’s probably a few imperfections, but close enough. Alright, there we go. Completely unrecognizable,” Jeonghan stated.

“So, what do you think?” Soonyoung asked Kai, his eyes shining with anticipation.

“It’s weird. I feel the same,” Kai said though it sounded more like a question than a statement.

“My voice is the same too,” Kai rubbed at his throat.

“Yeah, I can only do visuals so if we come across anyone, you two shouldn’t speak,” said Jeonghan, earning a hum of agreement from Soonyoung. 

“Seungcheol, you have your phone on you?” Jihoon called as he strode towards the group. Seungcheol took the device from his pocket and raised it as a response.

“Good. Make sure to link them to the network once you get there,” said Jihoon.

“Not to interrupt, but if you have phones, why send a letter?” Baekhyun questioned.

Jihoon looked at him for a moment with narrowed eyes as though he were offended by Baekhyun’s lack of knowledge. He released an annoyed sigh.

“Wonwoo and I set up a private network for the SVT and MX units, but we’ve only recently figured out how to extend the range so those at the VIXX and a few other bases could use it. They have their private network with the BTOB and EXID units but we aren’t able to access it yet, so to avoid sending important info over a public network or trying to decode vague texts, Hakyeon resorted to letters,” Jihoon clarified. 

“And he just likes the aesthetic,” Soonyoung added.

“Yeah,” Jihoon admitted with a shrug, “Anyway, you should get going.”

“Right, let’s go,” said Seungcheol. 

The small group dispersed as they maneuvered their way around the other members and headed towards the entrance. Soonyoung walked ahead of the rest and placed his hand atop the lever.

“We’re leaving!” Soonyoung announced, flipping the lever and unlocking the door. A chorus of ‘be careful’ and ‘stay safe’ echoed through the hall in response. Seungcheol turned around and raised his index finger, wagging it back and forth at the remaining men.

“We’ll be back in three days. Which means-?” Seungcheol elongated the end of the question, giving room for the others to finish. 

“Keep the exits locked, no fighting, and don’t burn the place down,” came the exasperated mix of voices, some hardly mumbling the words.

“That’s right,” said Seungcheol, a proud grin coming to his face.

“Stop stalling, we’ll be fine,” Joshua said. 

“I know,” Seungcheol sighed.

He wasn’t lying, he knew that those remaining at the base were fully capable of defending themselves, but the sinking feeling at the pit of his stomach never failed to appear at the thought of leaving them, even for a moment. Seungcheol gave Joshua a quick peck on the cheek to calm himself then stepped away to follow the others into the evening light, allowing himself to take one last look into the base. He glanced at as many faces as he should, their bright expressions lightening the weight in his chest. The last pair of eyes he met were Joshua’s before the door closed with a click, but the few seconds of meeting Joshua’s warm, comforting gaze were just enough to give Seungcheol some peace in mind as they headed deeper into the forest. 

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Ten uncomfortably shifted on the couch, holding the mug of coffee that Taekwoon prepared for him. The older sat on the ledge protruding from the windowsill. The sun shined against his back, casting a shadow over his face and hiding his expression. Ten took a long sip from the mug before lowering it and letting it rest on his lap. 

“Is it too bitter?” Taekwoon asked, finally breaking the silence.

“No, it’s good. Thank you,” said Ten. 

He leaned forward and set the mug on the table, cushioning the bottom with his pinky finger to prevent it from clanging against the glass. It’d only been five minutes, but five minutes with someone as quiet as Taekwoon was beginning to feel like an eternity.

“Have I done something wrong?” Ten finally questioned, watching his tone as to not let his dwindling patience become apparent.

“No! No, you haven’t,” Taekwoon quickly answered, waving a panicked hand in dismissal. He placed his mug on the windowsill and shoved his way off, landing lightly on his feet. 

“I just...needed to apologize,” Taekwoon muttered.

Ten was speechless. 

He wasn’t shocked, nor upset, instead he hurriedly began filtering through the last couple of weeks worth of his memory struggling to find an instance in which he would have been offended. After a few seconds, he found himself unable to find a memory of the sort.

“Apologize?” Ten asked.

“Yes.” 

Ten bit the inside of his cheek, not daring to deny Taekwoon. He had no idea what Taekwoon was talking about, but if the older deemed it necessary to apologize, Ten sure wasn’t about to stop him.

“I should’ve said it right after the incident with Taeyong, but I've been putting it off,” said Taekwoon.

Ten winced at the reminder of Taeyong’s first encounter with the others, but forced the unpleasant feeling down and tried to refocus on Taekwoon’s words.

“If you remember, right before you reached out to him, I…I used my ability on you,” Taekwoon trailed off at the end of the sentence.

“What?” Ten blurted out. 

“I shouldn’t have, and for that, I sincerely apologize,” said Taekwoon.

“No, no.” Ten interrupted, barely giving Taekwoon time to finish his sentence. 

“I just- when did you use it on me? And what was it? I don’t remember you doing anything, all I did was talk to him,” said Ten.

Taekwoon’s eyes glazed over for a moment, flickering back and forth between nothing in particular before he made eye contact with Ten again.

“It was your decision, but I used hypnosis to make you take initiative,” Taekwoon clarified.

Ten squeezed the bridge of his nose and sighed. He ran through the events in his head again, tracking his steps. 

_Talking to Mark._

_Hearing the scream._

_Seeing Taeyong._

_Chaos._

Ten replayed it through his head multiple times, searching for a detail he might have missed to no avail.

_Talking to Mark._

_Hearing the scream._

_Seeing Taeyong._

_Chaos._

_Mark._

_Scream._

_Taeyong._

_Chaos._

_Mark._

_Scream._

_Taeyong._

_An opening amongst the chaos-_

_An opening._

_Right, there was an opening. For a brief moment, but Ten felt it returning to him._

_A split second where he wasn’t alone in his thoughts. The gentle push of something foreign revealing itself through an amber veil._

Ten’s eyes snapped open.

“I remember. You…” Ten raised his head and looked Taekwoon dead in the eye. They were their usual, dark brown but he could clearly remember the amber glint that passed over his irises that day. 

Ten felt something pass over him but couldn’t pinpoint it. He should be angry, right? Or perhaps it was disbelief, or both. Ten got so lost in the internal debate that he momentarily forgot about Taekwoon standing right before him. 

“I…” Ten began.

Taekwoon seemed sincere, and had he not intervened, Ten might have remained frozen and- no. There was no way he could accept this apology. Absolutely not. He had his mind invaded and hadn’t even known about it. Hell would freeze over before Ten-

“I accept your apology.” 

Ten cursed himself for the words slipping out of his mouth. As uncomfortable as it felt, Taeyong did break out of it as a result. It was for Taeyong’s sake and that was enough, but there was one thing that itched at the back of his mind.

“As long as it doesn’t happen again. Not without permission. I am grateful, I really am, for you all allowing us to stay here, but Mark, Taeyong, and I have a right to our own privacy and free will,” said Ten. Taekwoon slowly nodded and shifted, allowing the sunlight to shine over his features.

“Understood,” said Taekwoon.

The two remained in their positions, though the silence didn’t last long as Sanghyuk loudly swore from the kitchen, followed by the sound of metal clanging. Ten whipped his head around and could only stare at the mess before him.

Sanghyuk stood with a ladle in one hand, holding it up as though it were a weapon. His other hand was cautiously held out towards a skillet that was covered by a pot lid but had heavy smoke billowing from around the edges. Ten heard the door to Ravi’s studio close, and shortly after Hongbin shuffled past, staring into the kitchen from behind the island. 

“What did you _do_?” Hongbin asked, approaching the stove.

He grabbed a mitt and snatched the pot lid off of the skillet, immediately jumping back as a large flame burst into the air. 

“It’s on fire,” said Sanghyuk.

“Oh shit _really?_ I couldn’t see that, thanks.” Hongbin spat. 

Ten looked at Taekwoon, then the kitchen, then back to Taekwoon.

“I thought they weren’t allowed to cook?” Ten gestured to Hongbin and Hyuk with a nod of his chin. 

“Yes, but Hakyeon wanted to give them a chance. I usually trust his judgment but...” Taekwoon sighed before striding into the kitchen and pushing the two aside and taking charge.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

“You sure it’s okay?” Taeyong asked. He slowed to a stop and tightened his grip on Mark’s hand. Mark turned to face Taeyong and nodded.

“Of course it is. You’ve been eating alone for a while, it’ll be a nice change,” said Mark.

“What if it slips out? I just snapped at _you_ , I can’t do that again,” Taeyong said. Mark shook his head.

“You’ll be fine, and if anything happens, which it won’t, they will understand,” Mark assured.

Taeyong pursed his lips, unconvinced, but let Mark continue to lead him down the hall towards the stairs. He glanced at the wall across from the sickbay and suppressed a sigh. The dent had been fixed, thanks to Ravi, but the thought of it still made Taeyong shudder. Hakyeon had told him that he could stop apologizing but the guilt was settled at the pit of his stomach nonetheless.

An unpleasant smell filled Taeyong’s nose. Upon looking up, he saw that Mark smelled it too, with his nose scrunched in disgust. It reeked of fish and something that smelled close to rosemary but Taeyong couldn’t tell. Mark didn’t let go of Taeyong’s hand, pulling the older along as he tried to find the source of the stench. They turned the corner and quickly made their way down the stairs, the source now apparent. 

Sanghyuk and Hongbin fretted around the stove, bickering about something that Taeyong didn’t bother to pay attention to. Instead, he focused on the large fire that had been diminished by Taekwoon after he placed a pot lid atop the pan, suffocating the flame. Taeyong winced at the smell and cleared his throat, gaining Ten’s attention, who had been watching the mess unfold from his safe spot on the couch.

“Taeyong,” said Ten, a bright smile gracing his features. He stood from the couch and hurried to the bottom of the stairs, grasping Taeyong’s free hand with his.

“How are you doing today?” Ten asked. He had begun gently massaging the back of Taeyong’s hand with his thumbs. Taeyong shook his head and looked at the three in the kitchen.

“I'm fine. What’s going on here?” Taeyong questioned.

Ten tsked at Taeyong's dismissal of his wellbeing and looked back into the kitchen. Sanghyuk had opened the door and the smoke slowly began to drift outside.

"Sanghyuk can't cook," said Ten with a light chuckle.

Taeyong slowly nodded then took a look around the empty living room.

"Where's Hakyeon?" Taeyong asked.

"I don't know, he might be outside," Ten replied.

Taeyong hummed in response. He hadn't been outside the studio much but on the occasion that he wished to see Hakyeon, the older tended to stay in the small grassy field behind the house. 

"You're out?"

A voice from his side caused Taeyong to jump. He sighed upon seeing it was only Jaehwan. 

"Ah sorry," Jaehwan quickly apologized with a sheepish smile before approached the kitchen and leaned on the counter.

"Anyway, everyone get your shit together, it looks like we've got guests coming tonight," said Jaehwan.

"Guests?" Mark asked.

"Your friends will be here in a few hours,” Jaehwan pushed himself off of the island.

“Well, two of them. Don’t know which ones though.” he finished. Jaehwan groaned and leaned back onto the island once more. He glanced at the door leading to Ravi’s room and waved a disapproving finger in its direction.

“He’s really gotta link them to the system, I'm tired of trying to pick apart code words, _ugh,_ and what are you guys trying to cook? It smells awful.” Jaehwan complained. 

“It _was_ fish,” said Sanghyuk.

“Great...so Taekwoon, can you whip something up in the next like... five hours?” Jaehwan asked. 

Taekwoon didn’t answer, instead, he opened the fridge and rummaged through it looking for spare ingredients. 

“Right, well, I guess I’m gonna go tell Hakyeon,” Jaehwan grumbled. 

He rose from his spot and stretched, popping a few of his bones, then weaved around the guys in the kitchen. Taeyong watched as Jaehwan exited and passed by the window before making his way down the hill until he was out of sight. After seeing that Taekwoon had everything covered, Hongbin and Sanghyuk reluctantly left the kitchen to go to the living room, but not without Hongbin shooting a look at Ten, but it was different this time.

There wasn’t any anger or irritation behind it like there usually was. It was more observant, as though he were trying to piece together a mystery. 

Taeyong followed Hongbin’s line of sight to Ten, and it appeared that Ten noticed the change as well based on his slightly raised brow. The moment ended as quickly as it began, and Hongbin kept walking, detouring from his path to the living room in favor of heading upstairs, his steps hurried. Taeyong shook his head, deciding not to focus on it any longer. He slipped his hand free of Mark’s and absentmindedly wandered around the living room before settling on the padded windowsill.

Staring.

Waiting.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

It took Jaehwan quite some time to find Hakyeon.

Half of the time, Hakyeon would sit outside in the field that surrounded the house, but he was nowhere in sight, so Jaehwan tried his next guess. 

After getting through the dense layer of trees, Jaehwan sighed as he finally spotted the gazebo. As expected, Hakyeon was inside, leaning against the rail and staring into the lake. Jaehwan stepped along the stone panels leading to it and used his knuckle to knock against the wooden door frame three times to signify his presence. Hakyeon kept his hands on the rail but twisted to see Jaehwan.

“Mind if I join you?” Jaehwan asked, already stepping into the gazebo.

Hakyeon chuckled and turned back towards the lake.

“You’re always welcome, no need to ask,” said Hakyeon.

Jaehwan flashed a quick grin and joined Hakyeon at the rail, leaning over a bit to see what the older man was watching so intently. 

Three rainbow trout swam about, circling back every so often. The smallest of the three slowed down, hovering for a moment, then suddenly propelled itself forward, shooting past the other two trout and leaving them behind, startled by the change in the water. 

Jaehwan tapped his finger on the rail a few times before speaking.

“They’ll be here tonight,” said Jaehwan.

“Is that so?” Hakyeon didn’t take his eyes off of the small trout until it disappeared into the depths of the lake. 

“Are you going to be alright seeing him?” Jaehwan asked after a small pause. 

Hakyeon tensed. Jaehwan watched as the older tried to force his body to relax, only to be betrayed by the death grip he had on the rail, knuckles white with the pressure. 

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Hakyeon replied, barely keeping his voice stable.

“I don’t think I need to answer that,” said Jaehwan. 

Hakyeon took a step back from the rail as the two trout swam away.

“I’ll be fine,” said Hakyeon.

“Hakyeon, you don’t always need to-”

“We should get back and help with preparations,” Hakyeon stated in a definitive tone but still forced a weak grin. Before Jaehwan could respond, Hakyeon patted his shoulder and exited the gazebo. 

Jaehwan rubbed at the back of his neck and groaned. He wasn’t surprised, the reaction was expected considering it was Hakyeon, but it was frustrating nonetheless. Reluctantly, Jaehwan sighed and left the gazebo as well, following Hakyeon back towards the house with the hopes that he’d be able to try again later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the long wait! I've been really busy for the past month with various things. Anyway, the moment we've all been waiting for is coming soon ;)


	14. Replaceable

“There it is! Best place around!”

“It’s the only place around.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” 

Soonyoung waved off Jeonghan’s remark and faced the building before the group with both hands on his hips and his feet spread a few feet apart.

Taemin squinted at the building, leaning from side to side to see around Soonyoung. It wasn’t much of a sight, it appeared to be an abandoned car shop. The white paint on the brick walls was heavily chipped as well as on the two the garage doors. There were windows on the second floor. But Taemin couldn’t see through them due to the height as well as curtains that covered them from the inside.

Soonyoung took two bold steps towards the building and leaned back, cupping his hands around his mouth.

“Jooheon!” Soonyoung yelled in a way that reminded Taemin of a sports announcer.

Nothing.

“You have to do it the right way.” Seungcheol reminded. Soonyoung sighed and spread his legs a bit further, putting his hands back in their position.

“Joohoney, one hundred!” Soonyoung called, louder this time. 

Seconds later, a bright head of orange popped out from one of the windows. Jooheon squinted for a moment before his features immediately changed to a dimpled smile.

“Soonyoung! Oh, give me a sec.” Jooheon exclaimed. He turned away from the group and called to someone named ‘Hyunwoo’ to open the garage door. 

Soon enough, one of the garage doors creaked before slowly rising and revealing two more men. One was slightly taller with defined muscles and a warm brown complexion. He used one hand to give the garage door one final push so it stayed up. 

The second man was sitting with his legs crossed on a stool, appearing to have been reading a book. His ink-black hair was swept back from his face with a pair of silver-rimmed glasses low on his nose. He looked up from the book and upon seeing them, stood from the stool and placed the book where he sat then strode towards the group with a smile on his face. He gave Jeonghan a brief hug first, before moving on to Seungcheol, and then Soonyoung. As he pulled away from Soonyoung, he eyed Kai and Taemin with an unreadable expression. 

“Nice trick, Jeonghan.” said the man who opened the door with a smirk at the sight of his double. 

“Why thank you,” Jeonghan replied with a smug grin, holding back a chuckle. 

“New recruits?” the second man asked.

“Mhm. This is Taemin,” said Jeonghan, gesturing to Taemin.

“And this is Kai.” Jeonghan finished, patting Kai’s shoulder. Jeonghan snapped his fingers and the air surrounding Kai and Taemin shimmered before their disguises faded, revealing their true appearances.

Kihyun’s eyebrows knit together and his gaze hardened for a moment as he stared at Taemin, but his expression returned to its previous state of neutrality in a matter of seconds as he seemed to catch his slip up.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Kihyun, that’s Hyunwoo,” Kihyun began, gesturing to the man approaching from the garage, “And the one you just saw was-”

“Jooheon!” Soonyoung yelled, then broke into a run past Kihyun. 

Taemin watched as Jooheon appeared from a door within the garage and began running towards Soonyoung at full speed. The two roughly collided into a hug, nearly losing their footing. A twinge of pain struck his heart and he forced himself to look away. He didn't expect a warm welcome but the complete lack of reaction still surprised him.

At that moment, Jeonghan leaned to Taemin and whispered something in his ear, inaudible to those surrounding them, then straightened his posture and plastered a grin onto his face. Taemin stood there, frozen and unable to act.

“It’s been too long.” Jooheon laughed, swaying from side to side with Soonyoung.

“I know~” Soonyoung agreed. He pulled back and placed both hands on the side of Jooheon’s head, turning it from side to side.

“You never told me you dyed it orange!” Soonyoung exclaimed.

“Mhm, Minhyuk helped me do it. You like it?” Jooheon asked, his eyes widening as he eagerly waited for a response.

“Yeah, man! You look like a tiger, nice,” said Soonyoung. 

“Why are you guys so loud?” a voice complained from within the building, soon followed by its owner peeking around the door frame. The lanky man’s eyes were scrunched shut as he yawned.

“Hi, Hyungwon!” Soonyoung greeted from over Jooheon’s shoulder.

Hyungwon rubbed his eyes and ambled towards Jooheon with a small, sleepy smile. 

“Oh...it’s been ages,” said Hyungwon, his eyes instantly brighter. He approached the two and wrapped his arms around Jooheon and Soonyoung, slowing their quick rocking to a gentle sway. 

“Ay~ no hugs for the rest of us?” Jeonghan droned, outstretching his arms. 

Hyungwon tsked and pulled back from Jooheon and Soonyoung, strolling towards Jeonghan and giving him a tight hug. He propped his chin on Jeonghan’s shoulder and perked up at the sight of Taemin and Kai. 

“Before you ask, let’s get everyone down here. What we’re not going to do is make them have to endlessly reintroduce themselves.” Kihyun interjected, earning a couple of nods in agreement. 

Jooheon went back inside and a few minutes later, three more men filed out. After a brief exchange, Taemin had learned that their names were Changkyun, Minhyuk, and Hoseok. His eyes lingered on each of them for a moment, trying to gauge their characters. 

Hoseok’s bright smile reached his eyes at the sight of the members of the SVT unit, and he appeared to almost have forgotten Kai and Taemin were there until he turned directly to them and offered them water or food, to which Taemin politely declined.

Changkyun was calmer, but his happiness was still evident as he, Jooheon, and Soonyoung caught up. He focused on Soonyoung as he spoke, offering nods and questions about him and the rest of the guys at the base. 

Minhyuk, however, was much harder to observe. He was partially engaged in conversation, but his eyes frequently flickered over to Taemin and Kai, narrowed not out of malice, but curiosity, as though he were trying to pick apart the two just as Taemin had been doing with the others. Through the small talk, Taemin found himself staring at Jooheon for a bit too long to be casual, and had to force himself to look away, though his gaze would find its way back to him anyway. Taemin was brought out of his thoughts as Minhyuk suddenly left Jeonghan’s side and approached him.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what is your last name?” Minhyuk asked without hesitation.

“...Lee.” Taemin answered. Minhyuk scanned his features and cocked his head to the side.

“Well that does make sense, otherwise he wouldn’t bring you here. Don’t know what else I was expecting but…” Minhyuk muttered to himself, getting quieter as he spoke. He blinked and looked back at Taemin.

“Anyway, in that case, it’s good to see you here. Not gonna lie, I almost didn’t recognize you. You look a lot different than I last remembered.” Minhyuk admitted. 

“You knew me before?” Taemin asked.

“Well, no. Not really. I’ve only seen pictures.” said Minhyuk, forming an ‘L’ shape with his thumb and index finger on both hands and holding them in a square shape.

“Pictures…?” Taemin questioned, but before Minhyuk could respond, Jooheon clapped his hands together to gain everyone’s attention.

“Ah sorry, we’re getting sidetracked. We should get on the road since the sun is almost down. You guys wanna see the new cycles?” Jooheon asked, bouncing on his toes as he mentioned the cycles.

“Sure, let us see ‘em,” said Seungcheol. 

Jooheon’s eyes crinkled at the sides and he spun around, rushing back into the shop, catching the rest off guard and forcing them to almost jog to keep up. Taemin pushed down the urge to say something and reluctantly followed, though the weight still sat in his chest. 

At the end of the hall, Jooheon stopped and knelt down, feeling along the edge of the wall for something. With a satisfied hum, he yanked his hand back, now holding a long white string attached to the last tile of the hallway floor. He pursed his lips and heaved, grunting as he strained. Slowly but surely, the tile began to let up. 

Once the tile was 45 degrees in the air, Jooheon switched from pulling the string to holding the edge with his hand and carefully pushed it forward so it was parallel to the end of the hall, revealing a steep staircase leading to what Taemin guessed was a basement of sorts. There appeared to be a light source coming from within, but it was too far for Taemin to see.

“Go ahead,” said Jooheon, slightly out of breath as he held the tile to the wall.

Taemin hesitated, letting the others filter past him and down into the basement. Kai lingered for a moment, flashing Taemin a reassuring grin, then descended. Jooheon waited for Taemin to walk down, then carefully let the tile back down behind them, being careful as to not hit anyone’s head. Once he was deeper into the basement, Taemin took another look around.

It was far longer than he thought it’d be, and cleaner. The floor was made of polished concrete and several beds lined the walls. Three lightbulbs lit the room, each placed a few feet from each other in a straight line leading to the second door, which was just an archway. 

“I’m gonna catch up with you guys, just gotta pull the string through real quick,” said Jooheon before prodding at the edges of the tile.

“Ah wait, Hyungwon, can you help me?” Jooheon added with a sheepish grin. Hyungwon huffed but ambled over to Jooheon nonetheless.

“Don’t take too long,” Kihyun called from the front of the group. Taemin raised a brow, confused as to why it’d take long and made the mistake of looking back. Hyungwon had just approached Jooheon but their faces were already dangerously close to each other. Taemin snapped his gaze back ahead of him, clearing his throat and speeding up his pace. 

The second room opened up to a long tunnel that didn’t have an end in sight and was somewhat larger than the first, and Taemin could see why. He blinked, to make sure he was seeing correctly and had to restrain from letting his jaw drop at the sight.

The room was chock full of Cycles.

Some lined the floors, others were hung on the wall by pegs. They were more advanced than any Cycles Taemin had seen. He’d seen them in the city before, but mostly older models that were reminiscent of the outdated motorcycles that required tires but were still slim and lightweight.

He had not seen these. All of them were freshly polished aside from the few with light scratches. The glass shields in the front were somewhat larger than usual, but the main feature that caught Taemin’s eye was the thick layer of metal at the bottom of the Cycles. 

“Oh, what’s this?” Soonyoung asked as soon as the thought passed Taemin’s mind. Soonyoung lightly tapped the metal layer, tilting his head in interest.

“Ah, I made a few adjustments,” said Hyunwoo.

Hyunwoo approached the Cycle and tapped the seat of it.

“The ones in the city only fly so high, so I added some extra parts to some of them so they could get up a bit more. This one goes up to 15 meters.” Hyunwoo explained, earning a few amused noises.

“That doesn’t weigh it down at all?” Seungcheol asked.

“A little, but we have…” Hyunwoo crossed the room to the other side and rested a hand on a different cycle that had no metal plate at the bottom and a smaller glass shield, “these for speed.” Hyunwoo finished.

“They only fly half as high, but are much smoother in hover mode,” Hoseok added.

“...Cool,” said Soonyoung, looking at the smaller Cycle in awe.

“So which ones do you guys need for today?” Minhyuk asked.

“What’s the difference, time-wise?” Jeonghan questioned.

“Three hours on the flyers, a little less than two on the lightweights,” said Minhyuk.

Jeonghan looked between the walls for a moment, then glanced at Kai and Taemin.

“Have you ridden before?” Jeonghan asked, leaning a bit so he could see them better. Taemin blinked, startled after having unknowingly zoned out while staring at the Cycles, then shook his head. Jeonghan hummed then straightened his posture.

“The two seated ones are probably best for now,” said Jeonghan.

“Will do! Changkyun could you please mark down...Cycles 409, 514, 524, 525, and 526?” Minhyuk asked, giving each one a brief once over. 

Changkyun nodded and began to walk towards the tablet that sat on a stool next to the entrance, but paused and looked at Minhyuk, squinting a bit.

“Five? Isn’t it just the eight of them?” he asked. 

“Nuh uh. If Jeonghan and Seungcheol ride together, there’s gonna be an extra Cycle left over. So…” Minhyuk smirked and jabbed a thumb behind him where he knew Hyungwon had walked in by the sound of his footsteps, “Hyungwon and I are also coming.”

“What? Why?” Hyungwon groaned.

“Well if I go alone on a separate Cycle, there’s still gonna be an extra. Changkyunnie is definitely staying which means Kihyun’s staying too, so I'll drive this one with you in tow, and when we have to drive back, you can take the extra. Okay? Okay. Thanks for your cooperation” Minhyuk said in one breath, not leaving room for Hyungwon to reply before continuing.

“You wanna drive with anyone in particular?” Minhyuk asked Kai. 

“Anyone is okay,” Kai replied.

“I can drive him.” Jooheon piped in from the archway, causing both Kai and Taemin to jump.

“Oh...good luck,” said Changkyun. 

“Ignore him, I’m super safe.” Jooheon rebutted.

“I didn’t say anything about your safety.” Changkyun snickered.

“It was  _ implied, _ ” Jooheon said after scoffing.

Hoseok chuckled then turned to Taemin.

“What about you? If you’re alright with it, I can drive you.” Hoseok suggested. 

“Yes, that’s fine,” said Taemin. He was fine with it, but he figured that even if he wasn’t, it’s not like he knew if anyone else would be better or worse except for maybe Jooheon, based on Changkyun’s comment and generally speaking, Taemin didn't think he could handle nearly three hours of being that close to Jooheon after what Jeonghan told him. 

“It’s you and me then, Soonyoung,” said Hyunwoo, lightly patting Soonyoung’s shoulder.

Hyunwoo took one of the helmets off of the handles and handed it to Soonyoung, who strapped it on in seconds. 

Kihyun quickly guided everyone to their respective cycles and nagged them for a moment about road safety as everyone geared up. 

“There shouldn’t be any drones, but if you do see any, make sure you aren’t flying too high, okay?” Kihyun added as the last point.

“Got it,” said Jooheon. 

“I mean it, and you two shouldn’t take off your helmets until you get there, okay?” said Kihyun.

“They’ll be fine,” said Changkyun from the other side of the room, Kihyun didn’t say much else, but kept his lips pursed as the Cycles started up. 

“You're gonna want to grab on.” Hoseok advised from his seat ahead of Taemin.

Taemin hesitated for a moment before sliding a bit forward in his seat and holding onto the sides of Hoseok’s jacket. Hoseok lightly exhaled through his nose before adjusting his grip on the handles and pressing a blue button. With a small jolt, the Cycle lifted from the ground and Taemin immediately tightened his grip and leaned the slightest bit forward, though when he finally looked down, the Cycle had only risen about three feet.

“Ready?” Hoseok asked as Minhyuk and Hyungwon’s Cycle shot past them into the tunnel.

“Jeonghan, please don’t floor it. Don’t-”

Taemin heard Seungcheol yelp and not a second after, another Cycle sped by, driven by a smug Jeonghan and a visibly frightened Seungcheol with his arms wrapped around Jeonghan’s torso as he held on for dear life.

“Yes,” said Taemin, lying but wanting to get the initial feeling over with. 

To his luck, Hoseok started slow, then sped up at a comfortable pace to catch up to the others. Once they were going, it wasn’t as bad as Taemin thought. They were whizzing through the tunnel, but he was almost comforted by the feeling of the wind, as though he were flying by himself. When Taemin raised his head, he could see a small light in the distance that wasn’t there before. 

_ Probably another hidden wall _ , he figured, not putting further thought into it in favor of closing his eyes and focusing on the feeling of the wind.

And that left two.

“This is gonna be great, you’ll love it,” Jooheon exclaimed, though it sounded like he was hyping up himself more than trying to convince Kai.

Kai cautiously leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Jooheon’s abdomen after seeing how fast two of the other Cycles set off. As Hyunwoo slowly set off at a similar speed as Hoseok, Soonyoung gave Jooheon a brief thumbs-up before he disappeared into the tunnel.

“This isn’t legal, is it...?” Kai mumbled. 

He didn’t know why he asked, considering that with everything else that happened so far this was probably the most minor offense, but the words left him anyway. Jooheon giggled before responding.

“Of course it isn’t,” said Jooheon. 

Before Kai had the time to process what he said, Jooheon pushed his foot down on the pedal and the Cycle shot off down the tunnel.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

It was too loud. 

Nothing was out of the usual. If anything, it should have been quieter considering it was the middle of the night, but Lucas still heard  _ everything _ .

Heartbeats. The slow breaths of those asleep. The buzzing of the furnace. The distant clinking of glasses from Hansol’s room as he presumably worked on new serums. The rustling of leaves outside that was louder now that the wind had picked up. 

Lucas clamped his hands over his ears and forced himself to slow his breathing which had quickened without him realizing it. 

Nothing changed. 

Lucas screwed his eyes shut as the sound of his heartbeat became louder. 

It was too much. 

He rolled out of the guest room's bed, barely catching himself in time to not hit the floor, and stumbled towards the door, leaning on the frame for leverage. Lucas rubbed at his eyes but immediately stopped as the wet sound was louder than usual.

The hall was dark aside from the strip of light underneath Hansol’s door, but Lucas couldn’t find it in him to care at the moment and even if he did, Hansol was probably caught up in whatever serum he was working on. An unpleasant shiver wracked Lucas’s body as the clinking of a spoon against glass pierced through him. He pressed his hands over his ears again, wincing, then began staggering down the hall. His vision was fuzzy at the edges and every bone in his body felt like it violently vibrated with each step he took. 

He barely remembered staggering into the entrance room and pulling the lever to unlock the door, nor did he clearly remember running so far away from the base, but here Lucas was, standing in the middle of a garden of sorts. Though it still proved to be somewhat difficult, once some of the noise had cleared, leaving just the sound of the breeze and rustling plants, Lucas was able to slow his breathing once more and properly observe the area.

A stone path winded around ahead of him surrounded by tall grass and spheres of white dandelion lightly swaying to and fro. Tree branches stretched over the path with the highest ones disappearing into the fog and large pyramids composed of various rocks and stones were scattered around the garden. 

Lucas took a quick look behind him, only to find that the stone path tapered off at his feet and he ultimately had no idea if he had simply been running straight or not. He stared ahead once more, unsure. 

_ ‘It would be nice to be able to see the moon _ ’ Lucas thought. At least that way he could try to tell how much time he had to get back before sunrise. If Jihoon or anyone for that matter found out he left he’d be screwed. 

The flapping of an owl’s wings snapped Lucas back to reality and he took a step back, then clenched his jaw at the light but grating sound of his barefoot against the stone. He crouched down into a squat and curled into himself, his hands still on the sides of his head in a desperate attempt to shut everything out.

He wasn’t sure how long he had sat there. It felt like both a matter of minutes and hours and the fog around him only seemed to thicken, closing in and suffocating him. 

It took a hand on Lucas’s shoulder to break him out of his panic just enough to register the fact that there was another person, another noise-making  _ thing _ near him before he felt himself drifting away again into the static.

“Wait no, no, no I’m sorry for scaring you, please don’t cry.” came the voice. Lucas barely lifted his head enough to see the blurred figure before him.

Seokmin was a crouched down a couple of feet away with a careful hand extended. 

_ Wait...crying? _

Lucas brought a hand up to his face and roughly rubbed at his cheek, feeling the wetness that he hadn’t realized was there. 

“Can I help you? Please?” Seokmin all but pleaded, pushing his hand a fraction further towards Lucas.

A few long, silent seconds passed before Lucas managed a small nod and hesitantly extended his dry hand towards Seokmin, not realizing how shaky it was until now. Seokmin scanned Lucas’s face as he took the younger’s hand in both of his, watching for any more signs of discomfort.

Seokmin’s hands faintly glowed and Lucas felt a small wave of calm seep through the wall of anxiety. The glow brightened then extended into Lucas’s hand, and little by little, the panic dissipated. 

Lucas closed his eyes and sighed, almost letting himself be fully absorbed in the feeling, but abruptly removed his hand. 

“Get down,” Lucas ordered, pulling Seokmin with him as he hid in the tall grass under the nearest tree. Seokmin didn’t need to ask why as seconds later, a thin streak of red slowly passed over them in the sky. 

Drones rarely passed over the area, in Seokmin’s experience, but when they did, they were usually small, circular disks no bigger than the size of a dinner plate and would be picked up by the base’s sensors well in advance. This was different. Regular drones didn’t glow like that, nor were they shaped like…

Seokmin squinted and furrowed his brows to make sure he was seeing correctly. Based on the way Lucas’s grip tightened around his wrist, he knew the younger saw it as well. 

It was human.

The end of the streak began to thin as the figure flew further away, only for it to brighten as the figure circled back around and appeared to stop moving. 

Lucas held his breath as the figure hovered, still and unmoving. It was too far away to see any facial features, he could barely make out the silhouette as it was through the fog, but he heard a faint clicking and the sound of metal scraping against itself. 

An eternity seemed to pass as all three remained unmoving, then the light dimmed until it was out of sight. 

“I think it’s gone,” Lucas whispered, but as the last syllable left his lips, a whizzing sound quickly came into earshot. 

“Move!” 

Lucas pushed Seokmin out of the way and dived to the ground, barely avoiding the projectile. Lucas whipped his head around to see a sleek dagger with a red handle lodged in the trunk of the tree, right where his head had been. Two letters were carved into the blade:  _ SM _ .

The figure cut through the fog and landed in the middle of the stone path on its feet with a loud thud and the ground violently shook with the vibrations of the impact. When the dust settled, Lucas only saw the figure from the knee up as a result of the small crater it had formed. It stayed hunched for a moment, then straightened itself, standing up at full height. Its features were hardly distinguishable in the darkness, the only indicator of where it was looking being the bright red rings around its irises.

“Who...who are you and what do you want?” Seokmin asked, trying to sound intimidating but being betrayed by the shakiness of his voice. 

The figure didn’t respond in favor of calmly grabbing another dagger from its belt. It tilted its head as it looked at Seokmin, observing him as though it’d never seen another humanoid. It took a step forward and Lucas pulled Seokmin back then stepped in front of him, obscuring him from the figure’s sight.

Moonlight streamed through an opening in the fog and illuminated the figure’s face, drawing a light gasp from Lucas as Taemin’s eyes stared back at him. 

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

“If you ever need anything else, let us know,” said Hyunwoo. 

Seungcheol placed his helmet on the handle of the Cycle he rode and stepped aside to let Hyungwon take his place. 

“Will do. Thank you again.” Seungcheol replied, approaching Hyunwoo and giving him a brief hug.

“Yeah, you guys are the best. We’ll pay you back soon,” said Soonyoung.

“Aii~ don’t worry about it. Just stay safe, alright?” Jooheon said, waving them off, “Now go on, I’m sure they’ve prepared a lot for you.”

The others gave brief parting words and started up their Cycles, turning around and speeding back down the path they came, except for Minhyuk and Hoseok. Minhyuk dug into one of his jacket pockets then pulled his hand out, holding an aqua blue envelope. He whispered something in Seungcheol’s ear as he handed him the envelope, then stepped back, lacking his signature grin for a moment. Seungcheol stared at the envelope for a moment and nodded. Minhyuk swung a leg over his Cycle and grabbed his helmet off of the handle.

“See you around,” said Minhyuk, winking at Taemin before he placed his helmet on his head and lowered the visor. The Cycle hummed as it lifted off of the ground, then sped away down the road. 

Taemin sighed and turned to face the building ahead of them. It was a modern home, with a cubic structure and the outside painted a slate grey. The front door with a single lantern hanging above it was next to a large window that Taemin couldn’t see through due to the closed curtains.

“Are you ready?” Jeonghan asked. 

“No,” Taemin answered honestly, “But he’s waited long enough” 

Taemin forced himself to pick up his pace to keep up with the others as they approached the door. Had it not been for the death grip he had on the sleeve of Kai’s coat, he was sure that his legs would have turned to jelly and rendered him immobile. 

“Whenever you’re ready,” said Seungcheol with a reassuring smile as he stepped aside from the door. Taemin released a shaky breath and raised a fist.

_ “Now or never,” _ Taemin muttered to himself.

And he knocked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reunion next chapter!! I'm leaving to college in about two weeks so i'm gonna have to haul ass with the next few chapters and have them ready to upload before I get too busy.


	15. Reunion

Every muscle in Taemin’s body froze as he waited for a response. 

The memory of what Jeonghan said earlier at the MX base stuck in his mind, making his anxiety worse.

_“Jooheon!” Soonyoung yelled, then broke into a run past Kihyun._

_Taemin watched as Jooheon appeared from a door within the garage and began running towards Soonyoung at full speed. Jooheon met Soonyoung halfway, passing Taemin without a second glance. A twinge of pain struck his heart and he forced himself to look away. He didn't expect a warm welcome but the complete lack of reaction still surprised him._

_At that moment, as though he caught Taemin’s thought process, Jeonghan leaned over and whispered some inaudible to those around them in his ear._

_“He...he doesn’t remember...side effect of Kihyun’s treatment. I’m sorry, we should have told you sooner but…”_

_Kihyun eyed the two, and Jeonghan straightened his posture and plastered a fake grin onto his face. Taemin remained frozen, then clenched his fists, his nails almost breaking the skin._

_They should have told him sooner, but_ **_what?_ **

_It would be nice if they’d told him that before they left._

_Before they trekked for an hour and got to the base._

_Before he had seen Jooheon for the first time in years, just to go unrecognized as the boy slipped right past him._

_Taemin couldn’t even apologize._

_It hadn’t made it better when minutes later, Minhyuk notified him that they knew who he was._

_Did they not tell Jooheon where he was from? How he ended up here?_

_If they did, was Taemin simply removed from that part of the story?_

_He supposed he couldn’t blame them. Frankly, if he were in their shoes, he wouldn’t want to remember someone like himself either. After all, from their perspective he must’ve looked like a coward, Taemin figured, but it didn’t stop the bitterness that lingered._

_It took all he had to calm himself down enough to get through the brief tour, and he decided to ignore the sight he’d seen between Hyungwon and Jooheon. Of course, he would’ve found someone else._

_Taemin shook his head of the thought as soon as it came. He couldn’t blame Jooheon, it wasn’t his fault. He just had to hope that Jeonghan wasn’t hiding anything else from him. He wouldn’t mind if Hakyeon was upset at this point. It would be fine as long as he remembered Taemin._

The door opening brought Taemin to reality and he stepped back as a tall man with an eye patch towered over him. 

Not another one. 

Taemin glared up at the man, though the latter didn’t seem to be fazed.

“You’re here earlier than we thought you’d be, one moment please, ah, come in.” said the man, letting them step into what appeared to be the living room and closing the door behind them. 

Taemin watched as the man passed through the living room and headed up the flight of stairs, skipping every three steps.

“Who is that?” Taemin all but spat.

“Han Sanghyuk. He’s only been here for about two years,” Seungcheol answered with an eyebrow raised at Taemin’s tone. 

Taemin didn’t reply and instead stared intently at the top of the staircase. 

A light thump came from upstairs followed by the sound of hurried footsteps. In seconds, a familiar face became visible in Taemin’s sight, and all feelings of bitterness left him as his mind went blank. 

Hakyeon remained in his spot, staring at Taemin with an unreadable expression. 

Time seemed to freeze and the air fell silent aside from the sound of the refrigerator humming in the kitchen.

After what felt like hours but was probably no more than a few seconds, Taemin nervously swallowed and pulled himself out of his trance just long enough to utter one word.

“Hi.” 

Taemin mentally slapped himself at the lackluster greeting. Six years and _that’s_ what he had to offer?

As if that one word was the signal to move, Hakyeon descended the staircase at such a speed that Taemin was surprised he didn’t trip and took quick, wide strides towards Taemin. 

Taemin closed his eyes and flinched, unsure of what to expect, only to feel himself be enveloped by two warm arms. He cautiously opened his eyes and in the corner of his eye only saw the top of Hakyeon’s head as he buried his face into the crook of Taemin’s neck, the light brown strands of hair tickling Taemin’s cheek.

“I missed you,” said Hakyeon, barely louder than a whisper.

Taemin released a shaky breath and brought his arms up to return the hug and rubbed Hakyeon’s back, keeping himself grounded by feeling the thick fabric of Hakyeon’s sweater. 

Taemin missed this. Hakyeon’s warm hugs. His smooth, honey-like voice. The faint smell of Hakyeon’s favorite citrus perfume. The only thing different was that Taemin was tall enough that he could look at Hakyeon without having to crane his neck up. 

“I missed you too,” said Taemin. Hakyeon tightened his hold then brought his hand up to run his fingers through Taemin’s hair.

Just like he used to.

A small smile came to Taemin’s face, seeing that the older had the same habit, but it instantly fell as his lungs began to feel restricted with how tight Hakyeon was holding him with his other arm.

“Hakyeon...can’t breathe,” said Taemin, frantically but lightly patting Hakyeon’s shoulder.

Hakyeon immediately loosened his hold and pulled back just enough to see Taemin’s face. Tears pricked at the corners of the older’s eyes as he scanned Taemin’s features with a faint grin. He brushed Taemin’s bangs from his face and placed a few strands behind the younger’s ears to get a clearer view.

“You’ve grown so much…” Hakyeon murmured, then his smile faltered for a moment and morphed into a sadder one. 

“But you look so tired, dear,” Hakyeon lightly ran his thumbs over Taemin’s prominent dark circles, then his cheekbones, which stuck out much more than they did years ago, even with the loss of baby fat considered.

“I’m...so sorry,” Hakyeon choked out. The tears began to flow from his eyes and he brought Taemin into another hug, hiding his face in the fur of Taemin’s oversized coat. 

Taemin found himself unable to move, stuck in disbelief. 

This wasn’t right. 

Taemin was the one to pull back this time, hurriedly wiping the tears from Hakyeon’s eyes though the older’s head was still lowered. 

“No,” said Taemin, then felt a rush of panic as Hakyeon’s eyes met his. He quickly continued to avoid Hakyeon misunderstanding him.

“You shouldn’t be apologizing. I’m the one who left. It’s my fault, I should be the one to- no,” Taemin cut himself off, reminding himself that saying _‘he should have’_ wasn’t an apology. Taemin let his hands fall to Hakyeon’s shoulders and sighed.

“I apologize,” said Taemin, “You don’t have to forgive me, but I just want you to know that I’m... I’m so sorry. It’s not fair that you’ve had to spend years looking for me instead of being able to live your life normally. ” 

“Taemin,” said Hakyeon, using a hand to raise Taemin’s face so he could make eye contact. His eyes were still red at the edges but full of certainty.

“Looking for you was my decision. You couldn’t have helped whether or not I decided to do that, and I would never be able to live with myself if I just let you go like that. I don’t agree with your past actions and I regret that due to my negligence I wasn’t able to keep your trust, but more than anything I am so relieved to see you again,” Hakyeon finished. 

His eyes flickered over Taemin’s shoulder and he huffed, finally taking note of the others present in the room. He quickly dried his tears with the sleeves of his sweater, even though all it did was further irritate his already red eyes.

“Forgive me, I never said hello. It’s been quite some time, hasn’t it,” said Hakyeon.

“It _has_ been a while, don’t worry about it,” said Seungcheol with an understanding smile. Hakyeon gave him a brief hug, not suffocating him as he did to Taemin, then moved on to Jeonghan and Soonyoung. Hakyeon went to hug the fourth person but stopped at the unfamiliar face. 

“Oh? I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Hakyeon, and you are?” Hakyeon asked.

“Kai. I uh...I was a part of the same project as Taemin,” said Kai. Hakyeon nodded slowly.

“He’s helped me a lot over the past few years, and is the main reason we made it out alive,” Taemin added, still trying to collect himself.

“Ah I see...well then, Kai, I don’t have enough words to thank you. If you ever need anything, feel free to let me know. Taemin’s friends are welcome anytime, and I hope that I’ll get to know you better as well,” said Hakyeon with a small but genuine smile. 

“Oh no, don’t thank me. Had it not been for Jun and Jeonghan finding us, we would’ve been stuck in the forest, and I only got half of us anyway-” said Kai, waving his hands. 

The waving came to an abrupt stop as Kai appeared to realize something.

“Oh my god, Mark. Are they okay? They’re here right?” Kai asked, not leaving any room to breathe.

“Yup. They’re all here in one piece.”

Everyone’s heads turned to face the voice.

Jaehwan sheepishly smiled from his spot at the bottom of the stairwell. Taemin hadn’t even noticed the man had entered the room.

“Ha...sorry. I didn’t want to interrupt your moment,” said Jaehwan, rubbing at the back of his neck.

“Ah, Jaehwan. Now that you’re here, would you like to take Kai and Taemin to see them? I’ll catch up in a moment,” Hakyeon said.

“Aye-aye big boss. By the way, your eyes are _mad_ puffy, I didn’t know you could cry that much,” Jaehwan teased, but was silenced by Hakyeon’s glare.

“Jeez, _sorry._ Anyway, come on, I’ll take you to them,” Jaehwan said, all but pouting, then gestured for Kai and Taemin to follow him upstairs. 

Kai followed immediately, but Taemin hesitated, glancing at Hakyeon. Hakyeon simply nodded and patted Taemin’s shoulder.

“Go and see them. Dinner will be ready soon,” said Hakyeon, and with that, Taemin returned the nod and followed after Jaehwan, disappearing up the stairway.

Hakyeon waited for Taemin to be completely out of his sight before turning to the three SVT unit members. 

“So they really escaped alone, huh,” said Hakyeon, amused. 

“Interesting, isn’t it? Get this, Kai can _teleport,_ ” said Soonyoung, ending the sentence with a ‘poof’ sound effect, emphasizing it by clenching his fists together then opening them with a tiny puff of fog that immediately dissipated.

“Mm. Mark has a similar ability. Though it's more contained. He only can go within closed spaces. Poor kid appeared in my wardrobe all beat up. He’s such a sweetheart, they all are,” said Hakyeon, casting a glance at the stairs. 

“Now, you must be freezing,” Hakyeon’s grin widened, “What type of tea would you like?”

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

“Right in here. I’m gonna give you guys some privacy, for real this time, so uh...yeah please don’t injure yourself or something because Hakyeon can, has, and _will_ knock my ass unconscious. Have fun,” said Jaehwan in one breath, though he wasn’t winded after it. 

He patted Kai’s shoulder with one hand and Taemin’s with the other and nudged them towards the closed door of what he told them was ‘the studio’, but didn’t elaborate past that. When Kai looked back to thank Jaehwan, he found an empty corridor and shivered. He shared a glance with Taemin, who was equally puzzled, his wide eyes flickering between Kai and the corridor, searching for any trace of Jaehwan only to find none. 

“Maybe the SVT guys were right about them being a little...scary,” said Kai, whispering just in case Jaehwan was lurking around a corner. 

Taemin hummed in agreement then turned his attention to the door, wrapping his fingers around the handle and pushing. Bright white light streamed through the crack, blinding Taemin for a moment before he blinked and his eyes adjusted. 

The light was coming from a single led in the ceiling, overcompensating for the lack of windows in the room. The room should have been bland, seeing as the floors and walls were made of polished concrete, but paintings adorned the wall, some hanging and some leaning against the base. 

He didn’t have time to linger on the decorations as he spotted the three figures crouched in the center of the room, surrounding something on the floor. One of the heads shot up, and two wide doe eyes stared back at him. 

Taemin and Kai didn’t have time to react as Mark leaped to his feet and launched himself at the two, and had it not been for Taemin’s ability to stay in the air, he would’ve been knocked over at the sudden weight.

“Oh my god, oh my god, hi! I’m so happy to see you guys!” Mark gushed, squeezing both of them and laughing in relief. 

Kai chuckled and ruffled Mark’s hair, returning the embrace.

“Us too,” said Kai, then looked up to see a look of disbelief on Taeyong’s face and a bright smile on Ten’s.

“You’re really here!” Ten beamed, bouncing before charging Taemin with a hug now that Mark had changed his main target to Kai. 

“Oof!” Taemin was sent a few more inches backward with Ten’s momentum but returned the hug nonetheless. 

“We sure are,” Taemin chuckled.

Taemin rubbed Ten’s back and looked at Taeyong, who still stared at them from the center of the room. 

“Taeyong,” said Taemin, his eyes crinkling at the edges as he grinned, “Come on.” 

Taeyong’s mouth gaped, but he took a step forward, then two, then strode to Taemin and Kai, hugging Taemin first then moving to Kai, but his expression remained caught between joy, relief, and confusion.

“You made it,” Taeyong shakily sighed into Kai’s chest as he hugged him. Kai chuckled again and bent down a bit to hug Taeyong back.

“You guys seem so shocked that we’re here. They didn’t tell you we were coming?” Kai questioned.

“I mean they did, but it’s still a long trip isn’t it?” Mark asked.

“Yeah, but some of their friends from the MX unit helped. The Oasis is bigger than I’d thought it’d be, though to be fair I didn’t know about it until the end of last month,” Kai replied.

Taemin tensed at the mention of the MX unit. He’d forgotten about it momentarily, having been overwhelmed at seeing Hakyeon, but now that the thought was back, he grit his teeth together, biting back a comment. Taemin sighed and forced himself to relax, but Ten must’ve noticed it since his eyes narrowed as he looked up at Taemin. With a barely noticeable shake of the head, Taemin dismissed the nonverbal question. 

Ten raised an eyebrow but broke his gaze away from Taemin, dropping it for now but Taemin knew he would confront him about it later.

“It’s a relief to see you three are alright, especially by the way the SVT unit described Hakyeon and his guys, but they didn’t seem that bad. Well, except for the one who opened the door and the other one who led us up here,” Kai shuddered at the memory.

“Did the one at the door have an eyepatch?” Ten asked.

“Yeah?” Kai replied.

“Oh, that’s just Sanghyuk. I was like, _super_ scared of him when we first got here, he’s so strong, it’s insane. He lifted me so easily,” said Mark, scrunching his shoulders to mimic how he was carried, “and he may or may not have accidentally hit Ten so hard he threw up.”

“He _what?_ ” Kai asked, his brows furrowed and he subconsciously wrapped his arms tighter around Taeyong.

“It was an accident! We were training. He didn’t even use his hands, it was a pool noodle,” Mark said, and it would’ve been comical with how serious the boy was when emphasizing the words ‘pool noodle’, but Kai pursed his lips at the thought of the action.

“It _did_ hurt but I’m fine now, calm down. He hit Hongbin too,” said Ten, snickering at the last bit of his sentence.

“See? Sanghyuk isn’t that bad. Now, Jaehwan…” Mark trailed off.

“Yeah no, he’s crazy as hell, but he won’t harm us, he’s got good intentions,” Ten finished. 

“Wait, who is Hongbin?” Taemin asked, not completely caught up yet. 

“The medic,” Mark answered.

“Good at what he does but he can be such an _asshole,_ ” Ten said.

“Alright, but you can’t say that Jaehwan has good intentions and Hongbin doesn’t,” Mark rebutted.

“Ugh, I guess.” Ten shrugged.

“Well,” Taeyong stepped back from Kai, “There are a few others that are here as well but you’ll meet them later. How was it on your side?” he asked.

“There’s so many of them, twelve total not including us, but they’re nice enough. None of them have attacked us with pool noodles so that’s a plus,” Kai replied. 

“Speaking of which, why didn’t Lucas and Baekhyun come?” Ten questioned. 

“Yeah...back when the...explosion happened, I was out for a few days afterward and they didn’t want me to strain myself so for now it’s just me, Taemin, and the three of the SVT members, but Lucas and Baekhyun are doing alright. Since I’ve been here, I’ll be able to go back and forth and you guys will be able to see them soon,” Kai explained. 

“Can we see them? The ones you came with?” Taeyong asked. 

“Sure. Ah, so you know how I said there were twelve? They have three people in charge, based on what I’ve been told, they broke the majority of the rest out of S-...there,” said Kai, grimacing at the mention of the company name.

“What? By themselves?” Mark exclaimed.

“Yeah, apparently they got them during the Arena battles and I guess we weren’t told about it because it’d give trainees too much confidence,” Kai continued. Silence followed as Kai waited for a response but gained none, as the three were too busy in their thoughts, with varying levels of disbelief.

“Two of the three are downstairs,” Taemin stated, breaking the silence.

“What?!” Mark yelped, louder this time. 

“Mhm. Come on, you should meet them,” said Kai, taking both Taeyong and Mark’s hand, urging them to leave the room and head down the hall. Ten glanced at Taemin, who barely offered half of a shrug, before reluctantly following Kai. 

Before leaving the room, Taemin went deeper into the room and squatted on the back of his heels to see what they were working on. Three brushes were littered around a canvas that had been laid flat on the floor. What initially appeared to be random spattered streaks of paint now formed stars, scattered across a galaxy amongst hues of purple and blue. Taemin picked up the brushes and placed them in the pitcher of water that was already tinted by paint. He swirled them around for a few seconds to remove all of the paint, then placed them aside. With another scan of the room, he saw more paintings, some signed with “YJ”, others with “XM” or “CH”, and ones that had “LT” in handwriting that Taemin recognized as Taeyong’s. 

Out of the estimated twenty paintings, none of them had red. The closest to it were streaks of purple, orange, and pink, but never just red. Taemin wondered if it was simply a coincidence or not, but decided to ignore it. He had enough things on his mind as it was and the types of paint that Hakyeon owned were _not_ about to be added to the list. 

Taemin rose to his feet and stepped backward until he was completely out of the room, then slid his finger over the small panel on the wall, turning off the light, before shutting the door behind him.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Jihoon knew something wasn’t right as soon as he heard the heavy footsteps stumble past his door followed by lighter ones that he knew belonged to Seokmin from the years of living with him. 

Jihoon rolled over in his bed and sat up, swinging his legs over the edge. He could see Mingyu’s outline in the bed across from him and briefly debated waking him but decided against it. He carefully got up and quietly exited the room, closing the door behind him, then went through his options as he stalked down the empty hall.

Joshua was level-headed and could think up a plan on the spot, but he refused to engage in combat, understandably so.

Hansol and Seungkwan were immediately crossed off Jihoon’s mental list. He wasn’t sure why whoever owned the heavy footsteps left, but on the chance that he’d need to be forcefully brought back, neither Hansol nor Seungkwan specialized in combat and Jihoon refused to put the youngest two at risk.

Minghao could be stealthy but relied on his agility rather than strength.

Wonwoo needed to stay on communications. 

Mingyu was certainly strong, but Jihoon didn’t want to risk the forest burning down.

That left one option. Jun.

Jihoon backstepped and approached Jun’s door, swinging it open. Luckily he shared a room with Wonwoo, who was an extremely deep sleeper.

“Jun,” Jihoon whispered, tapping the older’s shoulder, though it was more of a slap.

Jun awoke with a start and within the blink of an eye, grabbed the knife from under the mattress and held it defensively, only lowering it once he realized it was Jihoon.

“You scared me. What’s up?” Jun asked, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes with his free hand as he placed the knife back under the mattress.

“Seokmin and one of the recruits left. We need to go.” Jihoon stated, then left the room as quickly as he entered. Jun detangled himself from his blankets and followed suit down the hall, fully awake.

“Which one?” Jun asked.

“I’m guessing it’s Lucas, but I’m not sure. I just heard Seokmin follow him,” said Jihoon.

Jun stopped in his tracks for a split second, then looked at Jihoon, his eyes now wide.

“You feel that?” Jun quietly asked.

“Feel what?” Jihoon asked, mildly annoyed since they were pressed for time but he didn’t feel whatever Jun was talking about.

“The air is different. They left the door open,” Jun said, then broke into a jog around the corner. 

Jihoon ran to catch up and sure enough, at the end of the hall, he saw the metal door to the bunker wide open.

“You said Seokmin followed?” Jun asked between breaths. 

Jihoon only made a noise of approval.

“If they were sneaking out, he would’ve shut the door behind him.” Jun thought aloud. 

“You didn’t hear to see anyone else enter?” Jun asked as they stopped right outside of the door. 

“No. Just those two,” Jihoon responded.

Jun nodded and shut the door, listening for the gears to click shut. They’d just have to ring the bell when they got back since Soonyoung wasn’t there to be at his post. Jun raised a hand to the air, feeling for a disturbance in the light breeze. There were obstructions everywhere. Trees, small animals, bushes, but he felt a larger one to his left. He grunted in frustration as he struggled to feel how far away they were, he could only sense so far in such a crowded area.

“This way,” Jun stated and broke into a run, not wasting any time. 

Jihoon followed, passing Jun at one point as they whizzed through the trees, jumping over streams and protruding tree roots. Jun kept a mental note of the number of landmarks he’d set that they passed. They’d passed the main river, the mossy tree root, and the forest was gradually opening as they approached the flower field. 

Jun waited until they hit the opening to extend his arms behind him and propel himself into the air as the wind blasted from his palms. As he ascended, he scanned the area but didn’t see a sign of the two anywhere past the trees ahead that had become dense once more. Jun pushed more air from his palms to send him higher, and only then was he able to squint and see a distant figure in the stone garden, but it was still too far to tell if he even knew the person.

Jun left himself fall, only releasing a few puffs of air as he descended to break the fall, and eventually landed with a roll before he continued running, catching up to Jihoon. 

“Someone’s in the garden. Can’t tell who,” Jun said, heaving a bit as he leaped over a fallen tree.

Jihoon didn’t respond, but Jun couldn’t blame him. They’d been at an almost full speed run for almost five minutes and it was getting tiring. He could only wonder what SM had done for Lucas to be able to travel so far in so little time, though to be fair, Seokmin must have been faster than Jun thought because he hadn’t seen him at all.

Jun’s breaths became heavier, and chills ran down his spine. He felt another change in the wind. Something large. Just as he opened his mouth to tell Jihoon, the younger skidded to a stop and ducked behind a log.

“Get down,” Jihoon hissed and reached out to grab Jun before he ran ahead. 

Jun followed the order and squatted next to Jihoon, remaining silent. He followed Jihoon’s line of sight and saw what disturbed the wind. 

A bright red streak of light curved from the direction of the stone garden, then returned, like the arc of a boomerang. It slowed then stopped, the light pulsating in place. 

Jihoon could barely see it but knew exactly where it was. Right above the stone garden and whoever was in it. The light wavered, then appeared to ascend, the light dimming as it began to leave. 

Jihoon sucked in a breath as the light immediately brightened and dived straight down, disappearing past the treeline and landing with a _thud_ that Jihoon could hear from all the way where he was.

“Keep moving,” Jihoon ordered with a new sense of urgency. He broke into a full sprint towards the source, praying to nothing in particular that it was just a faulty drone that short-circuited.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Lucas shook his head, refusing to believe the sight before him. 

There was no way that was Taemin. 

Taemin was in the mountains with Kai and the others. He couldn’t be here.

Even if he broke off, he wouldn’t be trying to kill Lucas right now.

Those weren’t his eyes either. The crimson irises that appeared to look right through him, devoid of emotion. 

“Taemin...I don’t know what’s going on if you’re even Taemin, but you don’t have to do this,” Lucas said, backing up with Seokmin still hidden behind him. 

Taemin, no, Lucas would stop calling it that. Lucas spotted the X-shaped ring on Taemin’s finger.

X-Taemin it was.

X-Taemin cocked his head to the side with a sickening crack and his lips curled at the edges. He bared his teeth, and Lucas shuddered as he realized what the look-alike was trying to do. He was trying to _smile._

“Of course it’s me. There has only been me and will only be me,” said the look-alike, monotone despite his poor attempt of a smile. His voice came out garbled and rough, as though he hadn’t spoken before.

“And I’m here to save you,” said X-Taemin.

“Wh-” Lucas barely had time to form the word as a shriek came from behind Lucas, followed by a weight hitting his back. _Seokmin._

Lucas spun his head around to see that the blade that was lodged in the tree had gone, leaving just the slit. It was now stuck in the back of Seokmin’s shoulder, and Lucas watched in horror as it detached itself and he barely avoided it as it whizzed by him and X-Taemin caught it by the handle with a smug grin. 

Seokmin regained his balance and tried his best to keep the tears from leaving his eyes due to the stinging hot pain as he clutched at his shoulder. There was warm blood leaking from the wound, soaking through his shirt but he couldn’t focus on it as X-Taemin threw both of his daggers, leaving him and Lucas to dive out of the way. 

He winced in pain and grabbed a stick from the ground, deflecting the blade headed towards him as it looped back around. 

A short distance away, Seokmin heard Lucas swear aloud, followed by a thump on the ground.

“Lucas?!” Seokmin yelled, barely dodging the dagger as it shot back at him. 

“I’m fine. Urgh!” Lucas grunted as he kicked a dagger away from him, only for it to circle back and hit the ground where Lucas would have been if he didn’t roll out of the way.

Seokmin swung his stick in time to hit one dagger away but was a few seconds too late for the second one headed his way. He didn’t even see Taemin take out another one, _fu-_

A scream left Seokmin’s lips as the dagger darted behind him, grazing close enough to leave a long cut across his back as the first dagger shot in front of him and left a deeper cut on the outer side of his thighs.

“Please leave him alone, he didn’t do any-” Lucas was cut off as he narrowly avoided a stab to the face, but the blade still grazed his cheek. 

The two daggers that targeted Seokmin stopped in place, then flew towards Lucas with a flick of X-Taemin’s wrist. Lucas ducked and grabbed a stick of his own, wildly swinging it while ducking and dodging the three rapidly moving blades. 

“Noisy,” said X-Taemin, still monotone.

X-Taemin clenched and unclenched his fists, the metal of his rings scraping against each other as he calmly approached Seokmin, who was stumbling, just trying to stay standing. The tears had begun to stream down his face, but Seokmin tried his best to keep a steady glare and he brandished the stick. 

X-Taemin hummed briefly before charging at Seokmin. 

Seokmin barely had time to wind back and swing the stick before X-Taemin leaped into the air, avoiding it, then snatched the stick from Seokmin’s grasp and flung it aside. X-Taemin dropped back down, using the momentum of the drop to add to the force of his fist as he landed a punch on Seokmin’s face. The latter dropped to the ground disoriented, and Taemin slowly lowered himself, holding down Seokmin by the shoulders with his hands, causing Seokmin to cry out as pressure was applied to his wounds.

He tried to reach up and punch X-Taemin, but his arms refused to listen to him and he was feeling increasingly more light-headed every minute. Seokmin vaguely noted the unpleasant stickiness of blood around him, the sting was prominent but fading. The sounds of Lucas’s struggling began to sound farther away and the corners of Seokmin’s vision darkened.

“Comply,” X-Taemin ordered. 

Seokmin wished he could respond. That he could spit in X-Taemin’s face, but it was taking almost all of his energy to stay conscious. He felt Lucas’s distress, but nothing from X-Taemin. No anger. No determination. Not even the feeling of someone calm. There was nothing at all. 

_Ah, no, there was anger. A lot of it._ But it still wasn’t coming from X-Taemin, it was from farther away and getting closer.

“Let go of him!” came a distant yell followed by a loud clap of thunder.

Seokmin hadn’t realized he’d been in the air until he heard X-Taemin mutter an “okay”.

And Seokmin fell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So uh...happy reunion? Yay?
> 
> Side note, I've gone back and fixed some issues with older chapters, mainly format-wise so it's just not as ugly to look at, yk?


	16. X

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Mild body horror(?) for about a paragraph. I'll put "********" at the start and end of it.

Jun and Jihoon tore through the forest, less than a minute away. Jun adjusted his form as he ran, preparing to take off if needed, but his steps stuttered at the gut-wrenching sound of a hauntingly familiar cry from not far ahead.

They broke through the last of the foliage and Jun barely had time to process the scene before him. 

Seokmin’s limp body was suspended in the air above them, his limbs dangling like a marionette. Not far from Seokmin was another person that Jun couldn’t see the face of since they were hovering just as high up. Their arm was extended, and their hand curled into a hook, bringing Seokmin closer to them. 

In Jun’s peripheral vision, Lucas was flailing around, stumbling around trying to avoid something but Jun’s focus was torn from it as he saw a few drops of liquid fall from Seokmin’s figure onto the stone path. He followed the drops with his eyes and watched as they splattered onto the stones, joining the preexisting spread of crimson.

Blood. 

_ There was so much blood. _

Only mere seconds passed but he felt like he was standing there for an eternity staring at the spread of blood, Seokmin’s blood, that was smeared and splattered onto the stone. He knew he should move, he should help Seokmin, but then the second person lowered their head to see the two, and Jun froze. 

A pair of red irises stared back at Jun, so bright and saturated that they appeared to drip with light. 

Taemin. 

_ But there was no way, he was… _

Jun heard the crackling of electricity before he saw it. 

“Let go of him!” Jihoon screamed, charging at Taemin. 

Jihoon extended his arm and with a shout, bolts of electricity shot from his hand, barely missing Taemin as the latter had moved just in time. A loud rumble of thunder shook the sky shortly afterward and Jun stumbled as the ground shuddered. Jun’s breath hitched as Seokmin’s body was freed from Taemin’s hold and began to plummet towards the ground. 

Jun propelled himself across the garden and with his palms still splayed, blasted air above him to slow Seokmin’s descent. It lessened Seokmin’s speed but Jun still almost lost his balance as he caught Seokmin and quickly but carefully moved him away from the range of Jihoon’s attacks and laid him on the grass. Jun scanned over his body, careful not to move Seokmin too much otherwise, and immediately took note of the cuts on his legs and the bloodied sleeve on Seokmin’s left shoulder. 

A bolt of lightning flashed in the corner of Jun’s eye, followed by another loud clap of thunder that shook the ground. Jun whipped his head around and quickly observed his surroundings once more. Taemin was in the air, calmly ducking and dodging each of Jihoon’s attacks. Jun wished he could tell him to be more careful but didn’t want to risk distracting him. 

On the other side of the garden, Jun could now see that Lucas was avoiding what appeared to an assortment of flying daggers that looped around him in no apparent pattern. With every attack Lucas avoided, one of the daggers would swipe past him, lightly slicing at his skin. Jun snapped his gaze back to Seokmin, he would help them shortly. There was another task at hand that needed to be handled immediately.

Jun removed his shirt, shivering as the cold air hit his skin, and ripped it at the sleeve. He carefully lifted Seokmin’s leg just enough so he could wrap the fabric around the wound and tied it. The younger didn’t do so much as hiss in pain, and the lack of reaction only made Jun worry more. Jun shifted so he could see Seokmin’s face, and luckily his eyes were still open, albeit not very focused.

“Seokmin? You with me?” Jun asked, already ripping off another portion of the shirt.

Seokmin’s eyes wandered to Jun’s general direction but he didn’t say anything. Not even a hum of approval. Seokmin’s eyelids began to grow heavy, his blinks becoming slower and his eyes began to unfocus again. Panicked, Jun let go of the shirt and leaned back over him.

“Hey, hey, hey. I’m gonna need you to stay awake for me, alright?” Jun lightly patted Seokmin’s cheek, urging the younger to look at him. Seokmin opened his eyes and blearily blinked at Jun. 

More lightning shot into the sky, causing Seokmin to begin to turn his neck to observe the commotion.

“No, no. Focus on me,” said Jun, gently turning Seokmin’s face away from the fight to face him. 

“Dizzy…” Seokmin muttered, barely audible before another clap of thunder caused the ground to vibrate.

“I know. Try to keep talking, okay? This might hurt for a bit,” Jun said. He picked up the torn shirt again and folded the remains in half. 

“Wh-...hm. Lucas?” Seokmin murmured, slurring the syllables.

“He’s a little...busy, right now,” said Jun, “He’ll be fine.”

Jun placed a hand where Seokmin’s neck connected to his shoulders and carefully lifted him just enough to hold the shirt against the wound and apply pressure, drawing a gasp from Seokmin. Jun felt his heart sink as a stray tear slipped from Seokmin’s eye, but forced himself to repress the feeling to avoid having Seokmin sense it.

“Jun-” Seokmin began, bringing his shaky right hand to Jun’s arm and loosely grasping it.

“I know, I know. I’m sorry, but I have to stop the bleeding,” Jun said. 

He cleared his throat and looked back at the other activity in the garden. He locked eyes with Lucas, then quickly took in where each dagger was and where the next targets on Lucas's body might be. 

“Get down!” Jun yelled.

Jun shot his free hand towards Lucas and sent the strongest gust that he could in his current position in Lucas’s direction. Lucas dropped to the ground right as the last syllable left Jun's mouth, and the gust blew over him, knocking the daggers away from him and sending them flying out of sight into the next patch of trees.

Lucas raised his head from between his hands and took a quick look around to confirm the daggers were gone before running past Jihoon, narrowly avoiding a stray tendril of lightning, and skidding to a stop next to Jun and Seokmin. 

“Thank you. How is he?” Lucas asked in a panic, wincing at the sting of the long but shallow cuts on his face.

Jun didn’t answer as an odd feeling began to pass through him. He looked down and saw that Seokmin’s hand was faintly glowing against his arm.

“Seokmin, no.” Jun took Seokmin’s wrist and pinned it to the ground, being careful not to touch him with his exposed skin.

“We’re okay, don’t waste your energy. I’ll be back in a moment, stay awake for me, please,” Jun said, releasing Seokmin’s wrist as the glow faded. 

Jun lifted Seokmin off the ground, still not exceeding a few inches to avoid making any wounds worse. He nodded towards the hand that was pressing the shirt against Seokmin’s shoulder.

“Lucas, apply pressure to this wound and don't let him fall asleep. I’ll be back shortly, keep your emotions in check,” Jun ordered. He waited for Lucas to shuffle forward and take his position, holding the fabric firmly to the wound, before standing up. 

“Wait,” said Lucas, “That’s not Taemin. That...X-Taemin or whatever, he’s way more powerful. Be careful.” 

Jun didn’t reply, instead just eyeing Seokmin up and down, then nodded and turned around, running towards Jihoon. 

X-Taemin, as Lucas called him, was still flying around in circles, coming just close enough to Jihoon to take a swipe at him, but backing off before Jihoon could land a hit. Jihoon caught Jun in the corner of his eye and sent another strike of lightning towards X-Taemin. 

It struck X-Taemin in the shoulder, causing the clone to shudder for a fraction of a second as the electricity passed through his body. X-Taemin flew back a few meters and reached behind him, then flung his arm downward, barely giving Jihoon time to register the blade rapidly spinning towards him.

Jihoon was harshly yanked aside by his arm and felt his back hit Jun’s chest. The blade sped by before slowing to a near stop and twirling the opposite direction as it headed back towards him.

A strong but carefully directed blast of air blew next to him, sending the blade flying away into the foliage.

“I need him distracted,” Jihoon grunted.

“Understood.”

Jun raised both of his hands and swirled them around in opposite directions, disrupting X-Taemin’s flight as the breeze picked up. Jun brought the tips of his fingers together and sharply pointed them towards the ground. 

X-Taemin grunted as he struggled to keep himself up against the wind that pushed him down, temporarily distracted from Jihoon. 

Jihoon clenched his fists, and bright sparks of electricity flew and crackled along his knuckles. He thrust his fist forward, and a streak of electricity shot toward X-Taemin as a second strike of lightning ripped through the sky simultaneously.

Light flooded Jihoon’s vision as the electricity surged through him. He focused the energy ahead of him, trying his hardest to keep the bolts leaving his palms flying straight ahead towards X-Taemin. Anger churned in Jihoon’s chest, only lessened with each blast that left his fingertips.

With one last thrust of his hands, Jihoon expelled a chain of thunderbolts that cut through the black of the night, splitting and reuniting before they struck the solid target. 

The ground violently rumbled and rattled, shaking the leaves of nearby trees and causing the stone pyramids of the garden to vibrate and collapse in a heap. Jihoon’s legs buckled and the world seemed to tilt until he felt Jun’s arm around his shoulder, supporting his weight. 

When everything finally stopped moving, Jihoon scanned the area searching for X-Taemin. His brows knit together as he couldn’t see X-Taemin anywhere in the air. 

“There,” said Jun, hardly louder than a whisper.

*****************

Jihoon followed where Jun was pointing and laid eyes on a blackened mass. 

X-Taemin, or what was left of him, was lying on the ground face down. Jihoon took a few steps forward, letting Jun’s arm fall from his shoulder. On closer inspection, the clone didn’t appear to be made of flesh and bone. X-Taemin’s legs were gone, leaving just the waist-up, and the black edges of his torso flaked off and floated into the air, turning bright red before fading like embers. 

Jihoon continued until he was close enough to reach out and touch it if he wanted to, which frankly, he didn’t wish to but he figured that Hansol might be able to make some sense of whatever the particles were composed of. Jihoon jumped back as the mass twitched, and X-Taemin's head snapped towards him.

X-Taemin screamed, the candy red glow now having spread from his irises to the rest of his eyes. Black tendrils crept up his jaw until the lower half of his face detached and fell to the ground and crumbled into a pile of dust, distorting the scream into a garbled roar. His arms spasmed and contorted, his hands grasping at nothing. 

A pair of hands covered Jihoon’s ears, muffling the screams, shortly followed by Jun blocking his line of sight. With his eyes flickering between Jihoon and the deteriorating clone, Jun guided Jihoon away from the mess. 

Jun flinched as the clone screeched, writhing in place as more of its body fell apart and flaked away. The shrill sound was far removed from anything that could sound like a human, it grated at Jun’s ears like metal scraping porcelain. 

The clone let out its final cry, the red in its eyes having completely flickered out, and flopped onto the ground in a heap. 

*****************

All was silent until Jihoon snapped out of his daze and pulled away from Jun’s hands. He turned and ran toward Seokmin but stumbled half of the way there, landing on his hands and knees. He winced at his palms being scraped, but rose to his feet and continued to wobble ahead, ignoring Jun’s call. 

Jihoon fell to his knees at Seokmin’s side and leaned over Seokmin, releasing a shallow sigh of relief upon seeing that he was still awake. Seokmin blinked slowly and met eyes with Jihoon. 

“Jihoon, I’m-” Seokmin slurred, cut off by Jihoon shushing him.

“Save your energy. I’m not here to reprimand you,” said Jihoon, sounding just as exhausted. He shot a glare at Lucas and opened his mouth to say something but tensed as he heard a rustling in the trees.

“Is everything okay? We heard the thunder.” came Mingyu’s voice.

“We’ll explain everything later. For now, we need to get Seokmin back to the base immediately,” said Jun.

Mingyu whipped his head around, searching for the other three then rushed through the grass to the trio as soon as he heard Seokmin's name. A light gasp escaped Mingyu at the sight, and he looked at Jihoon waiting for an answer but received none. 

“Be-be careful with his back.” Lucas stammered.

Mingyu tried his best to stop the shakiness of his hands and knelt. He placed one arm under Seokmin’s knees and the other below the cut that he’d seen on Seokmin’s back when lifting him. Mingyu maneuvered his hold so he could take Lucas’s place in pressing the cloth against the shoulder wound. Mingyu stood with Seokmin in his arms and without another word, headed back in the direction he came as fast as he could without jostling Seokmin too much.

Lucas swallowed nervously and rose to his feet. He remained hunched over slightly with his hands extended in an offer to help Jihoon stand.

“I’m sorry, I can explain-” 

“I don’t want to hear it.” Jihoon swatted Lucas’s hands aside and stood on his own, lightly swaying with the action. 

Lucas pursed his lips, not daring to say another word, but tensed as blood began to trickle from Jihoon’s nostril. 

“Jihoon, you’re-” Lucas began, only to be cut off once more.

“I’ll deal with you later,” said Jihoon, his voice slightly less sharp. 

Jihoon rubbed at his nose with his knuckle, smearing the blood. He swore under his breath at the sight of the blood before his eyes rolled back and his body went limp.

Lucas lunged forward and caught Jihoon in time to avoid his head hitting the ground. Lucas barely had enough time to process what had happened before Jun had taken Jihoon’s body from him and lifted him in his arms.

“I’ve got him. Go ahead, we’ll catch up,” said Jun, not meeting Lucas’s eyes. 

Lucas nodded dejectedly and followed the order, running ahead into the forest and ignoring the way that his tears stung the cuts on his face.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

“That’s all there is to it?” 

Hakyeon stirred his tea absentmindedly with one hand and took back his phone from Jeonghan with the other. He turned his phone from side to side before placing it on the kitchen island. 

“Uh-huh. So if you need to contact us at any point go ahead,” said Jeonghan.

Soonyoung’s hum echoed in the mug he was drinking from. He quickly swallowed the mouthful of chai tea and placed the mug down. 

“Or to just chat too. We missed you guys,” Soonyoung added.

“As long as Seungcheol doesn’t mind,” said Hakyeon. He chuckled before lifting his mug to his lips and taking a sip.

“Of course I wouldn’t mind, it’ll be quicker as well,” Seungcheol said, grinning.

“Are you saying that Starlight is too slow?” Hakyeon asked, raising a brow. 

“Hey, I like Starlight too. She’s great, but we’d like to talk to you guys more often,” Seungcheol all but whined. A light laugh escaped Hakyeon.

“Oh, I’m just teasing,” Hakyeon said, waving a hand. His attention shifted to something behind Seungcheol and he took another sip of tea.

“Where were  _ you _ ?” came Jaehwan’s voice from where he was slumped over the edge of the couch.

Seungcheol lightly flinched at hearing his voice, having been unaware of his presence, and turned a bit in the stool he sat in to face him. 

“You don’t get tired doing that?” Seungcheol asked, exasperated. 

“Bold of you to assume I get tired at all,” Jaehwan said, pushing himself into a standing position, “Taekwoon, what’d you get?”

Seungcheol blinked and followed Jaehwan’s line of sight to Taekwoon, who had just entered the front door and locked it behind him. Taekwoon held up the bag in his hand and held it out as though that’d be a clear answer.

“Mint and Stinging Nettle,” Taekwoon deadpanned. 

“Did you...don’t tell me you mixed them…” Jaehwan looked at the bag, then directly at Taekwoon. The latter didn’t respond, staring back at Jaehwan with the bag still in hand.

“Oh my god, Taekwoon, that mint is for  _ tea _ . I  _ drink _ that shit. You drink it too,” Jaehwan hissed. 

Taekwoon let the silence stretch for another moment before nodding, his expression not changing.

“I know. I’m just messing with you.” Taekwoon pulled a smaller bag from within his coat pocket and tossed it in the air, catching it shortly after. 

Taekwoon placed the small bag back into his pocket and a ghost of a smirk flickered across his face as he strode towards the kitchen island. His eyes lit up at the sight of the three.

“How are you all doing? You’re early,” said Taekwoon, passing by them to wash his hands.

“Mm, all things considered, we’re doing alright. The MX unit got new Cycles so we got here ahead of time. They’re doing well, it seems.” said Soonyoung.

“That’s good to hear.” Taekwoon turned off the tap and joined them, leaning on the island.

“Speaking of which...” Seungcheol reached into a pocket of his jacket and his hand emerged with a pearl aqua envelope with a white wax seal. He held it out to Hakyeon, who took it shortly after.

“From Kibum,” Seungcheol said.

“Thank you,” said Hakyeon, his eyes narrowed at the envelope.

Hakyeon ran his thumb over the envelope, about to break the seal, when he heard the footsteps from the staircase. Careful to not bend or fold it, Hakyeon slipped the envelope to Taekwoon who discreetly placed it in his pocket. Mark emerged first, holding both Kai and Taeyong by the hand, followed by Ten and Taemin. 

Taemin stopped in his tracks as he spotted Taekwoon, then after what Hakyeon assumed was a brief inner debate, continued down the stairs and into the kitchen. Hakyeon glanced at Taekwoon to gauge his reaction, then back at Taemin.  Both of them appeared somewhat apprehensive, Taemin more openly than Taekwoon, but the specific look, or lack thereof in Taekwoon’s eyes, informed Hakyeon that he was watching Taemin carefully, waiting for his next move and deciding how to carry himself from that action. 

Hakyeon suppressed a grin at the brief thought.

Frankly, he didn’t understand why people perceived Taekwoon as someone who was cold and lacked empathy.  Sure, on the outside, Taekwoon may appear “vacant, like the lights were left on but nobody's home”, as Sanghyuk had worded it, but after years of having known him, Hakyeon knew that some days Taekwoon was simply zoned far out, but other times, there was a faint glint that revealed Taekwoon’s concentration. 

An open gateway to see the cogs turning.

“You’re back,” said Taekwoon in his token ambiguous tone, catching Taemin off guard after having spoken first.

“...I’m back,” Taemin replied, balancing his tone as well.

The others in the space seemed to catch the shift in the atmosphere, with all eight of them having fallen silent, even Jaehwan, whose eyes flickered back and forth between the two with anticipation. 

Hakyeon cast a glance at Taekwoon and forced himself not to sigh in favor of setting his mug down, purposely loud enough to clink against the counter. Taekwoon stared at the cup, then shifted, almost robotically with how stiff he was. When looked back at Taemin, his expression was still blank.

“Tea or coffee?” Taekwoon finally asked.

Taemin awkwardly stood there for a moment, unsure whether to accept the offer or not. He got a glimpse of the mug then looked away, but couldn’t seem to look directly at Taekwoon so he let his eyes rest on the assortment of jars lined against the wall next to Taekwoon instead. He took a deep breath and spoke.

“Coffee.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so uh...yikes.


	17. Departure

Taemin tentatively sipped at the cup of coffee Taekwoon made for him as he stole glances at the envelope Hakyeon now held, not having to worry about the eyes of the others as Soonyoung and Jaehwan had decided to distract them with old stories in the studio, leaving only himself, Hakyeon, Taekwoon, Jeonghan, and Seungcheol in the living room. He frowned a little at the taste.

It was almost sickeningly sweet, but Taemin appreciated Taekwoon’s effort and couldn’t blame the older. After all, the last he’d seen of Taekwoon was their time at Kibum’s place, and Taemin _did_ love sweets in the past, but perhaps his taste buds changed with age, or his tolerance lowered due to some chemical reaction from whatever serum gave him his ability. Taemin shook his head of the thoughts and took another sip of the coffee after catching Taekwoon’s eyes on him, it didn’t matter, really. Taemin internally cursed himself for spacing out again and turned his attention back to the envelope. He already knew who it was from, he’d seen the key emblem pressed into wax that Kibum used in the past. 

The sleek design of the key was simple yet pretty, with a rose and it’s stem wrapped around the longer part of the key. Taemin released a shallow breath of relief. Kibum must’ve still had to remain undercover, but it was nice to know that he was still safe, or at least Taemin hoped. They wouldn’t know until they opened the envelope. 

Hakyeon traced the wax emblem with his thumb once more, hesitant, then broke the seal and flipped the envelope open. In one swift motion, he removed the paper from within and unfolded it. 

Hakyeon’s eyes darted back and forth, speeding through the letter until they stopped and froze on something. His grip on the paper tightened ever so slightly, crinkling the ends before he continued reading. After less than a minute, Hakyeon lowered the paper and stared at it with an unreadable emotion.

“What is it?” Seungcheol quietly asked. 

“I...I don’t-”

Hakyeon shook his head then looked at Seungcheol and Taemin could have sworn that amongst the now visible confusion on Hakyeon’s face, there was a hint of distress.

“It doesn’t make sense,” said Hakyeon, holding the letter out to Seungcheol. 

“What doesn’t?” Jeonghan asked, leaning forward from where he sat.

“SuperM is going to debut in two days...with...Chan,” said Hakyeon.

“What?” Seungcheol hastily took the letter from Hakyeon and quickly read through it, shaking his head in disbelief. 

“ _How?_ ” Jeonghan asked, looking directly at Taemin, “They’re all here.”

“They replaced them that quickly?” Taekwoon questioned.

“No, it’s them,” said Seungcheol, dejected.

“He listed their names,” Seungcheol continued, “Taeyong, Kai, Ten, Lucas, Baekhyun, Mark, and Chan.”

Taemin leaned into Hakyeon to see the letter and squinted, searching through the lines until he came across the section. Taekwoon glanced at Taemin, then back at the letter.

“What about Taemin? He’s not listed?” Taekwoon rose from his spot on the windowsill and walked around to the back of the couch so he could read the letter. 

“No, he isn’t,” said Seungcheol, the end of the statement raising in tone as though it were a question.

“Well, he may appear later,” Taekwoon said, cocking his head to the side.

“Elaborate,” said Jeonghan, not having moved from his spot.

Taekwoon leaned forward and took the letter, then walked from around the back of the couch to sit on the one across from them.

“ _‘There’s going to be a press conference held at City Hall. SuperM, composed of Taeyong, Kai, Ten, Lucas, Baekhyun, Mark, and Chan, will introduce themselves. There will be an interruption approximately 15 minutes in, a planned crime set for the SuperM members to resolve and earn the favor of the public. The blame will be placed on those marked as Antis, lay low and stay safe,’_ ” Taekwoon read aloud. 

Taekwoon placed the letter on the coffee table and rotated it so it faced Jeonghan, then slid it across the table. He folded his hands and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. 

“So, if they are going to appear at the crime scene, Taemin may appear there,” Taekwoon stated, “Kibum may not have received all of the details so it's hard to tell.”

Taemin leaned forward to place his mug on the coffee table then sat up, facing Hakyeon.

“None of that explains how SuperM is going to debut despite us having escaped,” Taemin cut in.

“It doesn’t. We should…I can go to the press conference and try to see what’s going on-”

“No.” Seungcheol cut Jeonghan off.

Jeonghan sharply turned his head in Seungcheol’s direction, not quite glaring at the latter but making direct eye contact as he waited for an answer. Seungcheol’s expression softened by a fraction as he continued to speak.

“It’s too dangerous, you can’t go,” Seungcheol finished, earning a scoff from Jeonghan in response.

“Everything we do is dangerous, Seungcheol. If anything, I'm the safest option out of all of us to go. It’ll give me a chance to gather information on SuperM and if there’s an interruption, there’s a chance that I can intercept Chan,” said Jeonghan.

“We don’t know what kind of ‘crime’ they’re setting up. I understand that you want to see Chan but-” 

“That _I_ want to see Chan?” Jeonghan cut in, bringing a hand to his chest, “This is what _we_ have been working towards for years, are we supposed to just let this opportunity slide? We’ve broken through the Arena’s defenses before, this is nothing compared to that.”

“We barely made it out of there,” Seungcheol argued.

“Barely, yes, but we made it out _twice_. It was difficult, but not impossible,” Jeonghan rebutted.

“We can’t afford to be impulsive right now.”

Taemin bit his tongue, internally cringing as the words left Seungcheol’s lips. The few seconds of silence that followed seemed to stretch for an eternity before Jeonghan spoke again.

“ _Impulsive?_ ”

Seungcheol opened his mouth to respond, whether it was an apology or a rebuttal, Taemin couldn’t tell and he was interrupted either way by the notification sound from all of their phones, excluding Taemin as he didn’t own one. Jeonghan huffed and pulled his phone from his pocket and unlocked it.

Any traces of irritation faded from Jeonghan’s face as the color drained from his face and his eyes remained glued on the screen. 

“We have to go back...right now,” Jeonghan whispered.

Seungcheol and Hakyeon opened the message center on their respective phones and Taemin could practically feel the air thicken with the tension. He caught a glimpse of the frost spreading across Seungcheol’s knuckles and shivered as goosebumps rose to his skin with the cold that filled the room. He leaned into Hakyeon’s side for both warmth and to peer over his shoulder at his screen.

**_WW:_ ** _Attack near the base. Jihoon is down. Seokmin is in critical condition. In need of extra medical assistance._

“I’m getting Soonyoung and Kai,” said Seungcheol, rising from his seat and immediately heading towards the staircase. 

“Kai can only take three others,” said Jeonghan right as Seungcheol’s foot landed on the first step. 

“Take Ten with you,” Hakyeon said, breaking out of his daze, “His ability is restoration.”

It went unsaid that it would require either Seungcheol, Jeonghan, or Soonyoung to stay behind. Taemin knew that he and any of the other newcomers could meet up with Lucas and Baekhyun at a later point, and he honestly wasn’t up for leaving Hakyeon _again_ and he wouldn’t have much purpose going back anyway, but he figured it’d be torture for any of the three SVT unit members to stay behind. It was bad enough to be separated from Mark, Ten, and Taeyong even with the knowledge that they were in good hands. It would be another thing to be stuck miles away from them knowing that they were in critical condition.

“I’ll stay,” said Jeonghan, “Now hurry we don’t have much time.”

Seungcheol gave Jeonghan a brief once-over before nodding and heading up the stairs, skipping every other step. Hakyeon rose from his spot and strode across the room towards the intercom hidden next to one of the bookshelves. He pressed on the white button and leaned forward.

“Ravi, I need you to search for info about any upcoming press conferences with SuperM. I’ll explain later,” Hakyeon ordered, then released the white button and pressed the green one.

“Hongbin, bring your supplies and the materials Taekwoon collected from this month down to the living room. Quickly.” Hakyeon removed his finger from the button and supported his weight against the wall with his forearm as muffled sounds of commotion became audible. Soon enough, Soonyoung, Seungcheol, Jaehwan, Ten, and Kai emerged from upstairs, shortly followed by Hongbin who rushed by with a crate full of various materials and supplies. Hakyeon glanced at Jaehwan then at the staircase, expecting Mark and Taeyong to follow.

“They’re asleep,” said Jaehwan before Hakyeon could ask where they were. Hakyeon nodded then looked at Hongbin, signaling for the other to hand over the supplies. Hongbin adjusted the crate in his grip and held it out for Seungcheol to take, but hesitated as Soonyoung called his name. Hongbin turned towards Soonyoung and waited for the latter to speak.

“You should go with them,” said Soonyoung. 

“You sure you’re alright staying here?” Hongbin asked, taking the crate back from Seungcheol.

“Yes, now hurry,” Soonyoung said.

Kai glanced at Taemin and gave a small, reassuring grin that didn’t reach its eyes before extending his arms, letting Seungcheol and Ten take him by the hand while Hongbin settled for laying a hand on Kai’s shoulder. 

“We’ll be back,” Kai assured. 

“Be safe,” said Taekwoon. 

Seungcheol nodded in response and with that, the four appeared to warp and disappeared, the only trace of them having been there being the faint shimmer in the air.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this is short compared to the last couple of chapters, I've recently moved into my dorm at college and have been busy getting into the swing of things and wanted to update the fic before I'm loaded with assignments. I hope you're all doing well!


	18. Survival

Seungkwan anxiously tapped his foot as he stood in the base’s entrance room. Next to him stood Joshua, whose calm exterior was betrayed by the thin line his lips were drawn into, and the stiffness of his position. Joshua’s fingernails dug faint crescents into his forearms from where his arms were crossed, and a part of Seungkwan wished to swat his hands away but he was preoccupied with trying to keep himself together.

Hardly ten minutes prior, Seungkwan was harshly awakened from his slumber by a clap of thunder and the vibrations from it that shook the base. It had awakened all of the members, causing them to peek into the halls and only then they realized that the door of the base was closed and locked, but Jihoon, Jun, Seokmin, and Lucas were missing. After a debate that didn’t last long as they understood they were pressed for time, Mingyu had disappeared into the forest, heading towards the commotion.

Seungkwan pulled his phone halfway out of his pocket and rested his index finger on the back of it. It finished scanning his fingerprint in less than a second and the screen lit up, showing the time and date. Seungkwan sighed and shoved the phone back into his pocket. 

Only five more minutes had passed, but each second dragged for an eternity. The sky no longer flashed with light and the ground was still, but Seungkwan knew it could only mean two things, and he wasn’t enthusiastic about either. Whether the threat was handled or not, there was still a _threat_ near the base and there was no knowing if all of them were alright. Seungkwan bit his bottom lip, holding back a sigh at the thought of his diminishing array of medical supplies. 

Ever since they found the four in the forest, Seungcheol had made it clear that they only go out for necessities and even then to be extremely cautious. Seungkwan wasn’t allowed to go out by himself to retrieve all of the necessary ingredients and even when the members were there, they didn’t want to risk staying out for too long so Seungkwan had been relying on those who left to return with supplies from the VIXX base, otherwise, they’d have to ask one of their connections in the city to deliver it but as things were, it was hard to trust anybody knowing that SM was probably on guard.

Seungkwan reached to grab his phone once more but stopped when he heard rustling and rapid footsteps. Seconds later, Mingyu burst through the hanging branches carrying something, taking wide strides towards the shed and breathing heavily. 

“Mingyu, what-” 

Seungkwan ceased speaking when he saw Seokmin’s body curled up against Mingyu. There was blood staining both of their clothes and Seungkwan couldn’t tell who it belonged to and didn’t have time to figure it out as Mingyu charged toward them. Seungkwan willed himself to move from his spot and hurriedly shuffled down the ramp, turning at the bottom and entering the medical office. He forced down the nausea from the pit of his stomach and strode past the bed closest to the sink.

“Put him here, keep him sitting up,” Seungkwan ordered.

Mingyu carefully set Seokmin on the bed in a sitting position but didn’t remove the hand he used to apply pressure to the stab wound. Seungkwan all but flung open the cabinet and froze for a moment, realizing he didn’t know exactly what he needed. He leaned over Seokmin, careful not to touch him but thoroughly scanning his body and taking down a mental list of the injuries. His eyes traveled to the blood that soaked through the fabric of Seokmin’s shirt and frowned. To his luck, Seokmin seemed to still be awake, but barely.

“What happened?” Seungkwan asked, pulling on a pair of gloves.

“I-I don’t know. By the time I got there, everything had stopped,” said Mingyu.

Seungkwan grabbed a bottle of saline and poured some onto a cloth he’d folded in half. 

“Shirt,” said Seungkwan. 

Mingyu helped Seungkwan remove Seokmin’s shirt. Both of them winced upon hearing Seokmin softly hiss in pain when the fabric grazed one of the cuts on his back. 

“Where’s Jihoon and Jun? And Lucas?” Seungkwan asked, tossing the shirt aside.

Seungkwan bent down and rubbed Seokmin’s non-injured shoulder while his other hand hovered, the cloth inches from the stab wound, which bled but not as profusely as it did before.

“This is going to hurt, sorry,” Seungkwan muttered before applying the cloth and carefully dabbing at the wound to clean it. A strained sound escaped Seokmin’s throat as he clenched his jaw shut.

Seungkwan’s hand stuttered and he forced himself to continue steadily cleansing the wound, trying his best not to look at Seokmin’s face.

“They were just a little behind us, they should be here soon-” 

A light thud echoed through the hallway, interrupting Mingyu.

He shared a look with Seungkwan and held out a hand, signaling Seungkwan to stay in place, though it wasn’t like Seungkwan had the option to leave Seokmin’s side. Mingyu cautiously inched toward the door and a small cluster of the guys came into view. 

Jun was kneeling on the floor holding an unconscious Jihoon, using his knee to support the younger from below. Joshua was crouched in front of Jun with his arms extended. With a heavy sigh, Jun allowed Joshua to take Jihoon and carry him past Mingyu into the medical office. Mingyu knelt down and held out a hand for Jun to take. He opened his mouth to ask if Jun was okay, but closed it immediately since him finding Jun _on the floor_ was an answer in itself. 

Jun took Mingyu’s hand and staggered to his feet. After steadying himself, he muttered his gratitude to Mingyu and attempted to walk past him, but Mingyu placed his hands firmly on Jun’s shoulders, stopping his movement.

“What happened back there? Are you hurt anywhere?” Mingyu asked, searching for any visible injuries on Jun.

“I’m okay,” Jun absentmindedly shrugged Mingyu’s hands from his shoulders, his pupils flickered around as he thought of something, then he met eyes with Mingyu.

“I need to see Hansol. Jihoon overextended himself but he should be up soon. When he wakes up, you’ll have to move him to a different room. He’s going to be upset but you can’t let him near Seokmin,” Jun said in a single breath then brushed past Mingyu and headed down the hall before the latter could say anything. 

Mingyu groaned in frustration as he looked back and forth between Jun and the door to the medical office. He made a note to find out what happened once either Jun was back, Jihoon woke up, or when Seokmin wasn’t _bleeding out_ on a medical bed. He looked at his shirt and whimpered to himself at the sight of Seokmin's blood. Mingyu squeezed his eyes shut and ran his hands through his hair, trying and failing to calm himself down. 

More than anything, he wanted to stay by Seokmin’s side until he was stable. He wanted to provide Seungkwan some sort of comfort but he couldn’t go in like this, not with Seokmin in that state. If he could barely handle it when he was healthy, Mingyu wouldn’t know what would happen now. 

_Fuck._

He took a few steps down the hall away from the medical bay, but not without catching a glimpse of the way that Seungkwan’s hands shook as he tried to clean Seokmin’s wounds. Mingyu snapped his head away from the sight and blinked away the tears that were forming in his eyes. A string of repeated swears resounded in his head and he clenched a handful of his hair, grounding himself.

Mingyu wasn’t much older than Seungkwan, but it pained Mingyu nonetheless. They were hardly into their twenties for heaven’s sake. If Mingyu was asked years ago, he’d assume that he and the others in the base would be going to hang out with each other during summer nights, feet buried in the warm sand of the beach as they watched the sunset after a long day’s worth of hard work. 

Then perhaps they’d go to one of their houses for dinner or to watch a movie and fall asleep on the couch, waking up the next morning with their limbs entangled. They would be able to enjoy their youth. 

But of course, they couldn’t. 

No.

They couldn’t just save people as they intended. Mingyu couldn’t pay back Joshua’s parents for their hospitality when Mingyu was in a rough patch. 

He couldn’t get to them in time before the bombs set off. 

There were hundreds of ‘what-if’s and ‘should have’ and ‘could haves’ that went through Mingyu’s mind time and time again, but he deep down knew there was no stopping it. The bomb would have been planted there by SM either way, whether his team debuted that day or not. 

Of course, the incident made it to the news. SM’s attempt backfired and the media pushed the blame onto Joshua for his ability, even though there was no solid evidence. If it wasn’t so infuriating, Mingyu could almost bitterly laugh at how easily the public was influenced by a _very_ loose theory, if Mingyu said so himself. 

They got to move on from it. 

They got to go back to their families. 

Their classes. 

Their lives.

They didn’t have to spend years holed up in some abandoned bunker stitching up their best friend as he bleeds out before their eyes. Mingyu loved the members of the SVT unit. He truly did. Although he’d rather not be forced to live underground, he was grateful that he had eleven others with him who cared about him just as much as he cared about them. 

But this wasn’t living. 

They were simply surviving. 

Mingyu sighed, letting his hand fall from his ebony hair. He couldn’t spiral into the past right now. Not with Seokmin in the other room. When he opened his eyes, he spotted a tall figure down the hall. Mingyu blinked and his vision cleared enough to realize it was Lucas. 

The boy wasn’t looking like he was in great condition either. There was an array of cuts scattered all over his body, some visible through the rips on his clothes. Blood was smeared around his face and Mingyu couldn’t tell if it was his or not. His eyes shifted around the hall, looking everywhere but at Mingyu. 

Mingyu took a step towards Lucas, and the latter made eye contact with him for a brief second before sharply inhaling and turning his head away. Mingyu’s brows furrowed as with each step he took, Lucas grew more tense. Once he was a few feet away, Mingyu could see the more shallow scratches littered on Lucas’s arms and legs as well as the cuts on his face that had almost dried blood crusted around the edges.

“You’re not going in there?” Mingyu asked with an air of caution.

Lucas shook his head, keeping his eyes on the floor. Mingyu contained a sigh as he scanned Lucas’s face and opened his mouth to say something, but closed it when he heard light yet rapid footsteps coming from around one of the corners. 

Mingyu immediately left Lucas’s side and rushed toward the end of the hall, leaving the boy confused until he saw Minghao all but skid around the corner. He was halfway to the entrance of the medical office when Mingyu stepped in front of Minghao, blocking his path. Minghao took a step to the side and Mingyu mirrored it, earning a glare from Minghao.

“Move, Mingyu,” Minghao demanded.

Minghao brushed past him but Mingyu caught hold of Minghao’s forearm and brought him back to his previous spot but kept his gaze lowered, unable to look directly at Minghao.

“Seungkwan is still working, we have to give them space,” Mingyu softly said.

“What happened to them?” Minghao questioned without a moment’s hesitation, his tone sharp.

“Jihoon overextended himself so he’s asleep right now,” Mingyu explained.

“And Seokmin?” 

Mingyu clenched his jaw as he looked to the side, remaining silent. The lack of response gave Minghao enough of an idea and he tried to shake his arm free, but Mingyu tightened his grip, using his free hand to grab the wrist of Minghao’s other hand. Only then, Minghao looked down and spotted the dried blood stains on Mingyu's shirt and a quiet but pained gasp left him. 

“He’ll be alright soon, but he’s not in the best state right now,” Mingyu said, though he wasn’t sure who he was trying to convince, “He can’t handle more people around him right now. Especially not us.”

Mingyu could feel how quick Minghao’s pulse was becoming and began to rub circles into Minghao’s wrists with his thumbs. 

“We have to trust Seungkwan,” said Mingyu. 

“I’m going to tell Wonwoo to send a message to the others. Jun is in Hansol’s office, you can ask him about what happened,” Mingyu continued after Minghao didn’t respond.

Minghao lowered his head and his efforts to free himself of Mingyu’s grasp ceased. Mingyu’s grip loosened by a fraction and he leaned down slightly to try to make eye contact with Minghao, but the younger turned his face away, his hair spilling over his eyes. 

Mingyu froze when he felt something wet drip onto his hand followed by Minghao releasing a shaky exhale. He immediately released Minghao’s wrists and placed his hands on his shoulders, bringing the boy into a hug, unsure of what else to do. Minghao loosely wrapped his arms around Mingyu’s waist and rested his head on Mingyu’s shoulder, though he avoided the areas on Mingyu's chest that was smeared with blood. Mingyu felt Minghao’s tears soak through his t-shirt but he didn’t care and instead placed his head atop Minghao’s and closed his eyes, holding back his own tears.

They stayed like that for a moment before Minghao sniffed and pulled away, wiping his face with the backs of his hands. Mingyu let his hands drop from Minghao's sides but didn’t move away from him any further.

“I’ll be back there shortly, alright?” Mingyu wished he could give Minghao a reassuring smile but he couldn’t even bring himself to grin. 

Minghao nodded and swept his hair aside before straightening his posture and turning around to head towards Hansol’s office, but not without glancing over Mingyu’s shoulder and giving Lucas a brief, inquisitive look.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright so there might be more than 30 chapters with the way things are going, but it might not I'm not sure yet. I've decided to update more often at the expense of length, so forgive me. Anyway,, Mingyu-centric chapter because like everyone here, he's got s t r e s s


	19. Lost Stars

_ “The stars are beautiful, aren’t they, Hansol?” _

_ Hansol hummed in agreement and inhaled deeply, taking in the delicate, dewy smell of the forest. The stars  _ **_were_ ** _ beautiful. Hansol wished they could have a view like this in the city, but the light pollution was overpowering. _

_ “It is unfortunate, isn’t it?”  _

_ Hansol nodded then lightly huffed, realizing that he’d been thinking aloud. He let his head flop to the side, staring at Jeonghan’s profile. His dark locks were splayed in the soft grass and the moonlight illuminated his sharp yet delicate features.  _

_ He looked like part of a painting, Hansol thought.  _

_ Hansol’s thoughts were interrupted as the breeze picked up for a brief moment, causing a slight shiver to pass through his body. Hansol figured that Jeonghan must have noticed it as the older lightly exhaled through his nose and stood up. Hansol sat up, about to follow him when Jeonghan shook his head.  _

_ Jeonghan circled around behind Hansol and plopped down behind him, scooting closer until Hansol’s back was pressed to his chest. Jeonghan pulled his coat around Hansol, enveloping both of them in warmth. With a content sigh, Hansol let his head fall back against Jeonghan’s shoulder. _

_ “That’s a surprise,” Hansol chuckled beneath his breath. _

_ “Hm?” Jeonghan prompted. _

_ “Thought you would call it a night since it's cold,” said Hansol.  _

_ Jeonghan slowly nodded but didn’t say anything for a moment, keeping his gaze focused upward as though he were searching for an answer from the stars.  _

_ “It’s chilly, but it’s a nice night,” said Jeonghan. _

_ Hansol yawned, his vision blurring as his eyes watered. He blinked until the world wasn’t as fuzzy and focused on one particularly bright star.  _

_ “I missed this,” Hansol mumbled, feeling his body begin its slow drift away from consciousness. _

_ “It’d be nice if...hm…” Hansol trailed off. _

_ Jeonghan bent his neck at a slightly uncomfortable angle to look at Hansol. A small grin graced his features as Hansol shook his head to clear a bit of the drowsiness, shaking his brown curls out of place with the movement. _

_ “If…?” Jeonghan asked. _

_ “If the others could see this. Chan and Junji really liked stars too...” Hansol muttered, becoming quieter the longer he spoke, “I miss them.” _

_ Hansol’s head plopping back on Jeonghan’s shoulder signaled the latter that Hansol had finally fallen asleep. Jeonghan felt the familiar sinking weight of guilt in his chest at the mention of their names. He pushed down the feeling as quickly as he could, though it didn’t have much of an effect. With as many people that had gotten out, Jeonghan would’ve thought that he’d be able to see things in a hopeful light, but with every trainee they saved, there were five more that would join SM only to be eventually disposed of. He’d only have to hope that he wouldn’t see any more trainees in the Arena during the battles that’d be broadcasted live soon.  _

_ “Yeah…” Jeonghan finally spoke after a moment. _

_ “Me too.” _

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

A metal bowl fell to the floor with a loud clang, its contents nearly spilling. Hansol silently bent in his chair and picked it up. He stared at the center of the dark liquid as it gently sloshed around the bowl before coming to a slow stop.

With caution, Hansol set the bowl onto his desk and retrieved the bright orange bucket from next to his chair. He unscrewed the lid of the bucket, wincing at the unpleasant mix of scents from previously failed mixtures. Hansol lifted the metal bowl over the bucket and tilted it, pouring out its contents before he screwed the lid back on and slouched back in his chair. He released a sigh, half irritated and half disappointed, as he looked at the materials on his desk.

A variety of painkillers and serums were set out on a tray, ready to take to Seungkwan if needed, which Hansol prayed that they wouldn’t be. 

It was a waiting game at this point. 

Baekhyun stood silently in the room, the air tense between them. Hansol tapped his foot, thinking of anything that Seungkwan would need and would distract him for the time being, though he was sure anything created while he was anxious would be a failed experiment at best. He was short on materials as it was and everything he could think of was already prepared, leaving him to wait for Mingyu to come back with the others. 

Hansol was worried, of course, especially due to the thunder. However, a part of him was more interested than anything. He did feel somewhat guilty as the concern wasn’t the only thing going through his head, but he couldn’t help the curiosity that only intensified the longer they waited. 

He’d only experienced Jihoon use his ability on that scale once before, and even then, the tremors had never been that intense. It deeply unsettled Hansol, but he wondered what could have been so threatening that Jihoon went all out. The tremors had stopped not too long ago, and quite suddenly at that, so either Jihoon had a clean final blow to whatever it was, or things went down a more...unfortunate path.

Hansol knew they would be fine, he trusted Jihoon, Seokmin, and Jun with his life. He supposed that he just never thought about what would happen if he  _ did _ lose them one day. It’d definitely be awful, or so Hansol assumed, but the emotions just never followed the thoughts. He preferred to avoid thinking about it altogether, though the members living in a bunker in hiding always brought along a sense of risk. When the thoughts _did_ come, his mind had been trained to derail right before his train of thought hit the dead end. He’d think a little too hard that day and everything would blur in a haze, allowing him to feel like he was on auto-pilot for hours, or in his worst case, days. 

When it came down to it, while the brief break from the weight of well,  _ everything _ , was nice...it did tend to stress the other SVT unit members out and the last thing Hansol wanted was to add more stress than they already dealt with. The eldest members had told him on multiple occasions that they didn’t mind helping him at all, but there was no missing the exhaustion that would catch up with them. 

Especially Jeonghan.

Hansol remembered Jeonghan staying up throughout the night to make sure Joshua wouldn’t have nightmares about his debut, or Jeonghan would be the only one some nights that could drag Jihoon from his office into bed, and yet he denied that it was wearing on him as well.

Despite Hansol’s desire to not trouble the others, he could really use Jeonghan right about now. 

Hansol knew Seungcheol would give him encouraging words and potential solutions. He knew Soonyoung could give him the advice he needed, even if it wasn’t always what he wanted to hear. He knew that Jihoon, Wonwoo, and Jun would always lend an open ear and that Joshua could help keep his mind off of things. The younger members would be eager to help Hansol feel as comfortable as he could as well with harmless distractions, but sometimes Hansol just needed Jeonghan’s naturally comforting presence.

But there was no point lingering on something that couldn’t be changed. 

Hansol stood up rather abruptly, grabbing the tray. He waited for the contents to stop wobbling off balance before he began to head to the door, then paused. 

“I’ll be back,” said Hansol, earning a curt nod from Baekhyun. 

Hansol continued his short journey down the hall and into the medical office, finding that it was empty. He set the tray on Seungkwan’s desk and ventured back into the hallway, catching sight of Joshua and Seungkwan by the door. 

“Nothing?” Hansol asked. 

He didn’t have to raise his voice for them to hear him due to the hall being quieter than usual. Joshua remained focused on the edge of the forest but shook his head. 

“Not yet,” said Seungkwan. 

Hansol hummed in acknowledgment then turned back down the hall, his mind returning to thoughts of how to fill the time. He stopped in his tracks and looked at the row of doors he’d just passed. Hansol took a few steps back until he reached the door that had been painted navy blue. 

Using the small sliver of light from the gap at the bottom of the door as a sign of occupancy, Hansol knocked a few times before twisting the knob. He poked his head through the crack of the door and scanned the room. 

An array of blueprints and maps were pinned to the wall, some of them must have been new, Hansol figured...unless he just hadn’t visited the Blue Room as often as he thought. He didn’t have much of a reason to be in there, anyway. The only ones who really used the room and kept track of communications and media were Wonwoo, Jihoon, and Jun. 

Currently, only Wonwoo and Minghao were in the room, with Wonwoo intently clicking away at the keyboard, switching views on a grid of sorts. Minghao leaned on the desk with one arm, following each movement on the grid. Some of the clusters on the screen were small and yellow while others were larger with yellow exteriors and orange cores. The clusters flickered and spasmed around the screen, disappearing and reappearing in the blink of an eye. Minghao’s head snapped towards the door, and as soon as he registered who Hansol was, began to speak.

“Anything?” Minghao asked.

“Not yet. No luck here?” Hansol responded, and Minghao set his focus back on the screen.

“No, I can’t find their heat signatures. The lightning threw the system off,” said Wonwoo through clenched teeth as the grid whizzed to another area, “They’re near the stone garden but that’s all I can get. I don’t see how many of them there are.”

Hansol nodded even though neither of them could see it and backed out of the room, closing the door behind him. He figured it’d be better to leave them to it. Minghao was usually calm and collected but under stress, he could snap at any given moment and Hansol would rather steer clear from it while he could. 

Hansol ambled down the hall, dragging his knuckles along the wall as he went. A few of the protruding bumps of paint scratched his fingers, but he couldn’t find it in him to care. After what felt like an eternity of floating around the halls but was most likely less than a minute, Hansol found himself back at the open door of his office. He entered the room and side-stepped one of the shelves to reach his desk, then plopped onto the chair with a dull thud.

He mentally thanked Seungcheol for adding padding to the wooden chair since staying at the desk for hours as well as his habit of plopping down on things was beginning to give him back pain. Hansol frowned at the thought of Seungcheol being miles away. He wondered how the eldest member would react. 

Seungcheol wasn’t the type to lose his head in dire situations so he would be fine now, or perhaps not. They didn’t know how dire this was. In retrospect, sending off just Mingyu probably wasn’t a good idea. He could defend himself, yes, but he wasn’t invincible. None of them were. 

Hansol knew that he probably couldn’t do much. Poison resistance was good for his practice but not so much in combat, but Jeonghan didn’t have an offensive ability either and he was still allowed out. Hansol didn’t know if he could fight well anyway since he’d never really been given a chance, not with his new creations. 

Half of him supposed it made sense, poison wasn’t something he could use in sparring without harming his opponent and he didn’t wish to test it on animals either, but he would have gladly gone with Mingyu. If he had gone, that still left Minghao, Joshua, and Wonwoo to defend the base. Then again, if Jihoon didn’t bother holding back, Hansol might’ve been killed on the spot by whatever was out there.

“Hansol!” 

Baekhyun’s voice ripped Hansol from his thoughts immediately, and Hansol could only blink at him. He hadn’t realized he was being called.

“Yes?” Hansol finally answered. 

“Any update?” Baekhyun asked. 

“No, they’re working on it,” Hansol deadpanned, turning back to his desk. Hansol heard Baekhyun scoff behind him.

“You’re awfully calm considering that four of your friends are out there fighting for their lives,” Baekhyun spat.

“I-” Hansol began.

“Lucas is out there right now,” Baekhyun snapped, “Did you not hear the thunder? Do you know how painful that is for him? We don’t even know if Lucas, or any of them for that matter, are alive and they’re hardly doing shit about it!”

“They are in danger, but the best that we can do right now is remain calm so we can provide help if needed with a clear mind. Panicking will not solve anything,” said Hansol quietly as he fiddled with an empty vial.

A light thud echoed through the hall followed by cluttered voices and questions that Hansol couldn’t hear too clearly. Hansol met Baekhyun’s eyes and shook his head.

“Don’t go out there yet,” said Hansol before Baekhyun finished his first step. 

“What?” Baekhyun asked, bewildered. 

“If Lucas and Seokmin are back, we can’t crowd them,” Hansol explained. 

Baekhyun appeared to have a brief internal debate before taking another step toward the door, only for Hansol to leap from his chair and step in front of him, holding his hands up with caution.

“As overwhelming as it’ll be for Lucas, it’ll be the same for Seokmin,” said Hansol. 

Baekhyun opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by Jun barging through the door and stumbling towards Hansol’s desk. With a loud bang, Jun slammed his hand onto the edge of Hansol’s desk to catch his balance while his other hand searched for something in the pocket of his black sweatpants. 

He looked...disheveled to say the least. His hair was a windswept mess atop his head, covering half of his facial features, and dried blood covered his hands and was smeared on his exposed forearms. 

“What happened? Are they okay?” Baekhyun hurriedly asked. 

“They’ll be fine, Seungkwan has it under control. Hansol, can you find out what this is made of?” Jun quickly asked, placing a red-handled dagger onto the desk followed by a handful of jet black powder with shimmering flecks of crimson, some of which had spilled onto the floor when Jun’s hand left his pocket.

Jun lowered himself onto the floor, landing a bit too hard for comfort as his strength left him. He leaned against the side of the desk, not bothering to drag himself to a bean bag. He closed his eyes, relishing in the relief of the cold wood against his overheated body.

“Got it, but are  _ you _ okay?” Hansol asked, eyeing the blood on Jun’s hand and watching his labored breaths.

“Yeah,” Jun sighed.

Hansol pursed his lips, not believing Jun, but grabbed the dagger’s curved handle then turned it, observing how the light reflected off the ink colored blade. 

“Who does this belong to?” Hansol questioned. 

“It's one of X-Taemin’s,” Jun muttered.

“ _ Taemin? _ ” Baekhyun exclaimed.

At that moment, Minghao swung open the door and weaved around a bookshelf, ignoring Baekhyun. His puffy eyes stared directly into Jun’s and Jun could already tell what he was going to ask, that is until Baekhyun interrupted.

“Why would Taemin attack you?” Baekhyun asked. Minghao snapped his head towards Baekhyun, then back to Jun.

“Taemin attacked you?” Minghao questioned, his voice raised.

“Ugh, no it’s- just...give me a second,” Jun groaned, wincing as he straightened his posture. 

“It wasn’t Taemin, it was a clone. He had an, um…” Jun sighed and snapped his fingers as he struggled to remember, “He had a ring with an ‘x’ on it. By the time Jihoon and I got there, he’d already had the upper hand on Seokmin and Lucas. Taemin-...X-Taemin was attacking Lucas with the daggers, telekinesis, I’m guessing…” Jun paused to release a shaky exhale and let his head fall back onto the side of the desk.

“And Seokmin?” Minghao prompted.

“X-Taemin had him in the air and...and he fell. I caught him, but he was bleeding a lot...but he’s strong, he stayed awake the whole time…” Jun trailed off. He forced his eyes to remain open, pushing away the urge to drift off and tried to ignore the throbbing in his head.

“Jihoon...handled X-Taemin.  _ That _ ,” said Jun, loosely gesturing towards the black powder that Hansol had now swept into a small plastic bag, “is what was left.” 

Hansol scrunched his nose in disgust and dusted off his hands. He placed the bag aside and resumed his investigation on the dagger.

“Why were they out there in the first place?” Minghao questioned as he brushed aside some of Jun’s hair and felt his forehead, frowning at the heat.

“Dunno, I have to ask Lucas,” Jun said and pulled away from Minghao’s hand. 

Jun grabbed the edge of the desk and stood, regretting it immediately as nausea rose from his stomach with the action. He bent over the trash bin just in time as his stomach emptied, filling the room with the sound of his retches and a foul stench. He vaguely registered someone rubbing his back, but didn’t have time to figure out who as the second wave of nausea hit immediately after, keeping him bound over the trash bin until the last bit of bile left him. Jun winced at the burning in his throat and glanced to the side, finding that the hand on his back belonged to Minghao. 

Minghao’s brows furrowed and he moved his hand to run his fingers through Jun’s hair, tucking the long strands behind Jun’s ears. He studied Jun’s face for further discomfort as he carefully helped him stand, keeping an arm wrapped around his waist for support.

“You need to rest. We can talk to Lucas,” said Minghao. 

He waited for a reply from Jun, for the older to argue, but instead, Jun silently nodded, inhaling deeply through his nose and releasing a quiet sigh. Minghao spotted the dagger and pile of powder on Hansol’s desk then shot a glare at Baekhyun, but refrained from saying anything as he helped Jun shuffle through the door and down the hall.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

“I can’t do this.”

Seungkwan’s hand trembled, the needle driver and thread inches away from the gash on Seokmin’s thigh. Joshua placed a warm hand on Seungkwan's shoulder from behind him and stepped forward so he could see Seungkwan’s face.

“Of course you can,” said Joshua, his voice hardly louder than a whisper, “It’ll be okay, you’re an amazing medic.” 

Seungkwan rapidly shook his head and pulled his hand a few inches back. There was so much blood and  _ tissue _ that Seungkwan could see and he was barely keeping the nausea down. 

“No, I-I can’t mess this up, what if I don’t do it right? I’m not actually a  _ doctor _ , I haven’t done this before, I-” 

“Seungkwan.”

“I can’t hurt him, I-”

“ _ Seungkwan, _ look at me.”

Joshua took Seungkwan’s free hand in his and lightly squeezed it. Seungkwan reluctantly tore his gaze from the wound and looked into Joshua’s eyes. 

“It’ll be okay, this is going to help him,” said Joshua, rubbing the back of Seungkwan’s hand with his thumb, “You’re doing great.” 

“I know, I know,” said Seungkwan, then shakily exhaled.

Seungkwan looked at Seokmin, who was still staring straight ahead, his eyes going in and out of focus, trying to stay fixated on something to stay conscious. Seungkwan slowed his breathing, trying to suppress the anxious swirling in his chest. Holding his breath, Seungkwan brought the needle driver back to its previous position. He inched it towards the edge of the wound until the tip of the needle was resting on the skin.

_ He could do this.  _

_ He could do this. _

The tip barely pricked the skin when the space on the other side of the room warped and four shadowy figures appeared, causing Seungkwan to jolt back, luckily without piercing Seokmin or himself with the needle. The shape of the figures stabilized, and Seungkwan was faced with Seungcheol, Kai, an unfamiliar boy with cat-like features, and…

“ _ Hongbin? _ ” Seungkwan voiced, confused.

Hongbin didn’t respond, instead rushing to the space between Jihoon and Seokmin’s bed, followed by the boy. 

“What needs to be done?” Hongbin asked, placing the crate he was holding onto the desk between the beds. 

“He needs to be stitched up, he’s losing a lot of blood,” said Joshua.

“Ten,” said Hongbin, stepping aside to make room and facing Jihoon.

Ten, Seungkwan supposed, approached Seokmin immediately and stared at the gash for a moment then at Seokmin. Seungcheol and Kai stayed on the other side of the room, but Seungkwan could practically see the thoughts running through Seungcheol’s head.

“This is going to be uncomfortable,” said Ten to Seokmin, though Seokmin didn’t reply with any more than a hardly noticeable nod.

Ten brought his palm to the wound, covering half of it and applying mild pressure, drawing a small hiss from Seokmin. He closed his eyes and after a few seconds began to move his hand along the wound. One edge of the cut began to seal itself shut, following Ten’s hand. 

Once sealed, the cut slowly faded back into Seokmin’s normal skin tone, leaving no trace of ever being there aside from the blood on his leg. Ten scanned his body for other wounds and spotted his bloodied shoulder. He immediately moved behind Seokmin and pressed his palm to the stab wound, using his other hand to balance Seokmin. 

“What’s wrong with Jihoon?” Hongbin asked, a bit sharper than intended. 

“I-he overextended himself...we don’t know what else happened. The only ones who do are these two, Jun and- where are Jun and Lucas?” Seungkwan asked. His voice wavered as he spoke, the anxious knot in his chest tightening. 

“They went to the back, it’s okay,” Joshua muttered to Seungkwan, placing an arm around his shoulder and pulling him to his side. 

“Where?” Kai asked, not having heard him. 

“They’ve gone to the back,” Joshua repeated, loud enough for the others to hear.

Kai shared a glance with Seungcheol, and with a nod from Seungcheol, Kai left his side and exited the room, making wide strides down the hall. 

“His temperature is way too high, even with the overuse of his ability,” said Hongbin, pulling the thermometer from beneath Jihoon’s tongue.

“Seungcheol, can you cool him down while I work on the external injuries?” Hongbin asked though there wasn’t a second option. Before Hongbin could finish speaking, Seungcheol was already at Jihoon’s side. 

Seungcheol hands hovered on either side of Jihoon’s head and he let the frost coat his fingers and cool the air around Jihoon, but he remained careful, as to not cool him too quickly. Hongbin shivered from where he stood, feeling the slight chill in the air before warming up again due to Seungcheol containing the coldness to Jihoon’s bed. 

There was a slight quiver in Seungcheol’s hands, but Hongbin couldn’t tell if it was due to the frost generation or nervousness, or perhaps both. Hongbin glanced at Ten, who was still concentrating on closing up Seokmin’s stab wound, then looked at Seungkwan.

Hongbin’s eyes narrowed by a fraction. Seungkwan was clearly out of it, even with Joshua next to him, rubbing circles into his bicep and muttering something to him. Hongbin had to wonder if he’d be alright afterward, but shook his head of the thought, if he could glare at himself he would.

_ Of course he wouldn’t be alright, what kind of thought was that?  _

_ Nobody in their situation would be “alright”, what a senseless question. _

Hongbin huffed and turned back to Jihoon, surveying the damage. A few shallow cuts here and there, nothing he couldn’t handle. It didn’t look like any of them were infected, so all he had to worry about was getting his temperature down afterward, which Seungcheol was already working on. Hongbin grabbed a pair of gloves from a box in the crate and pulled them on, then retrieved a rag. He strode towards the sink, wetting the rag with cool water, then wrung it out and headed back towards the bed, taking the bottle of mild soap next to the sink with him.

He made quick work of disinfecting the cuts and bandaging them, not turning back until he was done. By then, all that had to be done was to keep Jihoon’s temperature, which now had lowered a bit, to a decent level. 

“How is he?” Hongbin asked.

“Almost done,” Ten mumbled, not breaking focus with the wound beneath his hand. Hongbin nodded and looked at Seungkwan.

“Can you send an update to the VIXX base?” Hongbin asked. Perhaps it’d distract him for a moment.

“Why don’t you do it?” Ten muttered.

Hongbin had to force himself not to snap at Ten right then and there. He swore that if it wasn’t for Seokmin being in the room, he would rip him a new one. God, how that kid was annoying.

“Left. My. Phone.” Hongbin said through gritted teeth, willing his tone to stay somewhat neutral.

“It’s okay, I’ve got it,” said Seungkwan.

Seungkwan discarded his gloves into the waste bin and immediately left, not even trying to make it look like he wasn’t rushing. Hongbin sighed, running a hand through his hair as he watched him leave. By no means was he good at talking to people about their feelings, nor did he enjoy it, but Hongbin made a mental note to check in on Seungkwan later.

“Done,” said Ten, pulling his hand away from Seokmin.

All that was left of the wound was a shallow red line that spanned about an inch across and was maybe only a quarter of an inch deep. It wasn’t completely back to normal, but it was good enough, Hongbin decided.

“That’s all I can do for right now, so it still has to be bandaged, sorry,” said Ten, more to Seokmin than anyone else.

“Thank you,” said Seokmin, turning his head to see Ten.

“Ah, be careful,” said Joshua, reaching out and stopping Seokmin before he could turn the rest of his body, “He handled that one but you should still rest so you don’t aggravate anything else.”

Seokmin nodded, his eyes now much clearer but the fatigue still evident. He scanned the room with a small frown, looking for something.

“Where is he…?” Seokmin asked.

“Who?” Hongbin asked.

“Lucas, is he okay? He wasn’t doing too well,” said Seokmin, still looking around the room.

“He was in the hall when I went out there,” said Joshua.

“Lucas,” Ten sighed, silence followed so he continued, “I know you can hear me, come in.”

Hongbin’s head snapped towards the door, waiting for this ‘Lucas’ to enter. Soon enough, quiet footsteps became audible from down the hall, shuffling until the boy stood in the door. He was a few inches taller than Hongbin with messy dark hair falling over his forehead. There was an array of shallow cuts covering his face and body, dried blood crusted at the edges of a few of them.

“Lucas? Why didn’t you come in?” Seungcheol asked, almost moving to usher Lucas to a bed but stopping due to being preoccupied with Jihoon.

“What happened to you…?” Ten rose from his spot on the medical bed and took wide strides towards Lucas. He reached up to Lucas’s face and his nimble fingers swept over the cuts, quickly sealing the shallower ones before Lucas pulled away from his touch. 

“It’s my fault,” Lucas muttered, still not meeting Ten’s eyes.

“What...what do you mean?” Ten quietly asked.

“I’m the reason we were out there,” said Lucas, lowering his head, “It was just so loud and I was freaking out so I ran...I don’t know why. Then I was in the stone garden and Seokmin had followed me to help calm me down but then…” 

“And then what, Lucas?” Ten softly prompted. He rested a hand on Lucas’s jaw and turned his head so he faced Ten.

“You’re not going to believe me,” said Lucas, lightly shaking his head. 

Ten brought his hand to the back of Lucas’s head and began to smooth down the strands of hair at the nape of his neck.

“Of course we will,” Ten replied. 

Lucas nervously swallowed and his eyes skirted around the room, catching the expectant gazes from the others, until he looked directly at Ten and took a deep breath.

“It was Taemin.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took so long ugh...there are definitely going to be more than 30 chapters, we have way too much to get through to fit in ten chapters. Anyway, I hope the wait was worth it! I had to rewrite like...half of this because in the midst of my sleep-deprived delirium, I wrote a character into a scene where he literally could not be because he wasn't there yet. Gotta love my mind jumping ahead in time...yikes.


	20. A Hunch

Lucas clenched his clammy fists as he waited for a reply. His eyes flickered between each of their expressions, confusion strung between them.

“That doesn’t make any sense, we left him at the other base, he was there the entire time,” said Hongbin.

“I mean...it looked like him, but it wasn’t Taemin,” said Lucas, “It couldn’t have been.”

Seungcheol’s eyes narrowed and he glanced at Jihoon, and then Seokmin. Seokmin met his eyes and weakly nodded, confirming the information. 

“We saw him flying around...couldn’t tell if it was a drone or not because at first, it was just a red light. He came down and attacked us, he had the upper hand for a while…I can’t remember too much after that but somewhere in the middle, Jun and Jihoon arrived and fought him off,” said Seokmin.

“He escaped?” Hongbin questioned.

“No,” said Lucas, hollowly.

“Oh,” was the only thing Ten could say as he eyed Jihoon up and down. 

“It was...weird. X-Taemin was using telekinesis but Taemin, our Taemin, he doesn’t have that ability,” Lucas muttered.

“A shifter? Maybe?” Ten suggested.

“No, we’ve dealt with a shifter before. They can’t replicate abilities unless SM somehow managed to give someone two completely different abilities which is  _ rare _ . Especially two abilities that are  _ that _ powerful,” said Hongbin. 

“Yeah, even for Jeonghan, if he uses his ability too much it’s a strain on him, I don’t know if he...or anyone aside for that matter could handle two,” said Joshua. 

Before anyone else could suggest another idea, Kai re-entered the room, somehow looking more stressed than he did before he left. He paused for a moment, staring at Lucas. His eyes widened as he scanned his body and caught sight of the injuries on Lucas’s body.

“What are you doing standing here? Sit down until Seungkwan gets back, you can’t strain yourself like this,” said Kai, carefully ushering Lucas to an empty bed. Once Lucas was seated, Kai ran a hand through his hair and sighed.

“Where is Seungkwan?” Ten asked.

“With Wonwoo, ah you probably don’t know him-, whatever, um…” Kai sharply inhaled and exhaled, forcing himself to slow down, “Hansol filled me in, he’s currently working on the...remains and what they’re made of. Jun is fine, I think, but he isn’t feeling too well so Minghao is taking him to rest,” Kai finished.

“Remains?” Ten questioned with a brow raised.

“It’s just the daggers and his-... _ it’s _ ashes,” said Kai, wincing at the thought. 

A chill ran down his spine, he refused to call whatever it was a  _ ‘he’ _ , Kai wouldn’t dare compare it to Taemin. Not their Taemin. It couldn’t be true, he had his eye on Taemin the entire time. Whoever, no,  _ what _ ever attacked them was not Taemin. 

The words looped around his mind, and he wasn’t quite sure what he was trying to convince himself of. Of course it wasn’t Taemin, but that only left him wondering what else it could have been...what else SM had up their sleeve and how they located Lucas and Seokmin. He knew that SM hardly checked the Eastern Forest, there was no reason to. Most of the Rogues were in the city and SM barely spared a thought of those who lived outside of the city, it didn’t make sense.

“Okay,” said Seungcheol. He shook the frost from one of his hands and felt Jihoon’s forehead, checking his temperature. Finding it had lowered to a safe level, he pulled his hands away and pinched the bridge of his nose, then sighed.

“Okay. Main priority is staying inside and helping them recover. No trips outside of the base at all if possible, and I mean  _ none _ ,” said Seungcheol, briefly glancing at Lucas. 

“What about our resources?” Seokmin quietly asked.

“I brought some medical supplies for Seungkwan, and as for other things…” said Hongbin, turning his attention to Kai, “he’s been to the VIXX base, so we can help you.”

“I would ask if you’re fine with it, but there’s not another option so make sure you’re resting enough between trips. Speaking of which, you should eat something then go to bed. You’ve been traveling all day,” said Hongbin as he shuffled around the room and collected the materials he would need. 

“Right, Kai, the guest room should still be open and-” Seungcheol began.

“No,” said Hongbin, cutting him off with a glare, “I meant you too, Seungcheol. We can pick this back up after you both rest up.”

Seungcheol didn’t comment on Hongbin interrupting him and instead sighed, looking at Jihoon once more, his eyebrows still furrowed.

“We’ve got it covered, go ahead, I'll be in there soon,” Joshua assured. 

Seungcheol silently nodded and reluctantly stepped away from the bed. He strained to keep a neutral expression though his worried gaze lingered on Jihoon as he backed away. 

“Alright...I'll...I'll see you in the morning,” said Seungcheol, earning a reassuring grin from Seokmin. With that, knowing that if he didn't leave right then and there, his composure would be lost, he willed himself to turn around and exited the room.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

A light chime rang through the room from the digital clock in the wall, signifying the end of the hour. 

Jeonghan anxiously bounced his leg as he stared intently at his phone, waiting for a message. He’d forced himself to put it down about ten minutes ago but couldn’t help picking it back up and checking it again. 

The sense of anxiety was strung through everyone else in the room, as even Jaehwan was silent ever since the news came, that is, until he got up and headed towards Ravi’s studio to check for updates a few minutes ago, only mumbling that he’d be back shortly. 

An arm weaved itself around Jeonghan’s, linking them at the elbow. Jeonghan glanced to his side and saw that it’d been Soonyoung, then lightly sighed and ceased the bouncing of his leg. Soonyoung didn’t look at Jeonghan but inched closer to him until their sides were pressed together. The sound of the door to Ravi’s studio shutting made Jeonghan flinch, and shortly after Jaehwan’s footsteps came into hearing range. 

“Anything?” Jeonghan asked, though based on Jaehwan’s exit he already had a more than decent guess that it couldn’t be much. Jaehwan shook his head and sat down next to Soonyoung since Taekwoon, Hakyeon, and Taemin took up the other couch.

“Not yet,” said Jaehwan. 

Jeonghan turned his attention away from Jaehwan and turned on his phone to check the time, then shut it off again, his reflection clear on the black screen. He stared at it for a moment, confused. He hadn’t remembered removing the illusion, but his dark brown eyes stared back at him and his hair was back to its natural shade of black. The scar on his face was in full sight, but he didn’t bother hiding it. Jeonghan hated its origin, but there was no point in lingering on it when there were more important things to worry about. 

_ Oh, there were so many things to worry about. _

Seokmin was in critical condition, and Jeonghan had no way of knowing  _ how _ critical. The fact that he was injured in the first place was awful, but if Seokmin was on his deathbed and Jeonghan wasn’t there for him-

Jeonghan lowered his head, ripping his eyes away from his reflection. 

Everything would be fine, it had to be. Seokmin would be fine. Jihoon would be fine as well. Of course, they didn’t say Jihoon was in critical condition as well, so perhaps he was simply exhausted, plus, Hongbin and Ten had gone with them. 

_ That’s good, right? _

Jeonghan pursed his lips and lightly exhaled. Of course it wasn’t good, none of this was  _ good _ , but he’d take simple exhaustion over the other option. His mind ventured to the others, and the ball of anxiety in his chest only wound itself tighter. He didn’t even want to imagine how the others would feel. 

If he was feeling like this  _ away _ from the scene, Jeonghan knew that Seungcheol and Joshua would feel the same sense of guilt, being the three oldest members of the unit. Guilt was an understatement, this was moments away from sheer despair. Jeonghan could only hope that Joshua wouldn’t shut down after this, same with Hansol. If both Joshua and Jeonghan were gone, Jeonghan knew that it’d be extremely difficult for Hansol to stay grounded, and here Jeonghan was...miles away unable to help him.

It couldn’t be easy for Seungkwan either, assuming that he’d be treating the two. He could barely handle it when the members returned with a few scrapes, much less whatever happened to Seokmin. And Minghao- oh, poor Minghao. Jeonghan had no idea what he would do. He’d be devastated for sure, but he never showed much weakness around Jeonghan, or anyone for that matter. It wouldn't be good for Seokmin to be around him right about now, not with his emotions in a whirlwind. 

Jeonghan closed his eyes and forced the thoughts to slow down, it was giving him quite a headache. He’d just have to trust them. Seungcheol was with them now, everything would be fine. They were capable. Everything was under control.

He repeated the reassurances to himself in his head, willing his breathing and his heartbeat to stay steady. At some point Soonyoung had wrapped his other arm around Jeonghan’s, despite the amount of strength behind the nearly painful grip, Jeonghan didn’t mind as he found it equally grounding. The quiet bloop of a notification on the phones in the room broke Jeonghan out of it and he lurched forward, hunched over his phone. It scanned his fingerprint and opened, and the message was finally clear. 

**WW:**

_ Jihoon and Seokmin’s conditions have been stabilized.  _

_ Stab wound reported on Seokmin, but the medical team is making good progress. _

_ Minor cuts and scrapes on Jihoon, mostly exhaustion from overuse of ability. _

_ Jun and Lucas are currently under treatment.  _

_ More details soon. _

Jeonghan released a deep, shaky sigh and lowered his phone. 

“Oh thank god…” came Soonyoung’s voice. 

Soonyoung plopped his head back on Jeonghan’s shoulder and sniffled, finally letting some of his tears fall. It wasn’t long before he was full-on bawling, clutching onto Jeonghan’s sweater like it was a lifeline. Jeonghan took a moment to process it, honestly a bit surprised as it had been like Soonyoung flipped a switch, but shook himself out of it and angled himself so Soonyoung could lay his head against Jeonghan’s chest. He brought a hand up to gently massage the back of Soonyoung's neck, but it only seemed to draw out more stifled sobs.

“You waited until after he tells us they’re okay to start crying?” Jaehwan tried to say jokingly to lift Soonyoung’s mood but could barely find it in himself to force a grin upon his face. Instead, he laid a hand on Soonyoung’s back and patted it. 

“But I do wonder what it was for  _ Jihoon _ to overuse his ability…” said Jaehwan. 

He knew what Jihoon could do using only a quarter of his full power. Hell, he was able to charge the entire SVT base without breaking too much of a sweat. Jaehwan had never seen him go all out and he could only wonder who or  _ what _ required such a large amount of power to defeat. Jaehwan made a noncommittal hum and cocked his head to the side before rising to his feet. 

“I’ll let Ravi know,” said Jaehwan.

Hakyeon nodded in acknowledgment and with the gesture, Jaehwan stepped around the couch and headed back down the hall that he’d come from minutes prior. Ravi would have gotten the message as well, but maybe he’d have an idea or some sort of theory about what happened. Jaehwan assumed, no, he definitely  _ knew _ that it was SM’s doing, but he wasn’t going to bring it up when Taemin was fresh out of the company and Jeonghan and Soonyoung thought they’d lost Seokmin. 

Jaehwan lightly knocked on the door three times before twisting the knob and opening the door. He stepped inside and squinted in confusion as Ravi was hunched over, typing something hurriedly. Jaehwan moved to lean over Ravi’s shoulder but still couldn’t see what was on the screen.

“Whatcha working on?” Jaehwan asked. 

Ravi jumped and closed the tab of the application, then turned around and looked at Jaehwan. There was a tinge of panic, maybe even fear, in his eyes before he squinted and lightly punched Jaehwan’s arm. 

“Ugh, you scared me,” Ravi groaned.

“Really? I didn’t mask my steps, I even knocked this time,” said Jaehwan, nonchalantly. He eyed the icon that the application shrunk into and raised a brow.

“What were you working on?” Jaehwan questioned.

“Nothing,” Ravi quickly said. 

“Really?” 

Jaehwan leaned on the desk, placing one hand on the desk to keep balance and reached for the computer’s mouse with the other. Ravi moved the mouse away from Jaehwan’s reach, as well as the monitor.

“Jeez, what are you hiding? A diary entry or something?” Jaehwan awkwardly chuckled and pushed himself off the desk.

“Well...yeah,” Ravi mumbled.

“Oh,” said Jaehwan, smirking, “I don’t think I need to embarrass you further then.”

“Whatever, it’s normal,” said Ravi. 

“Sure. Anyway, did you see Wonwoo’s update?” Jaehwan asked, gesturing toward Ravi’s phone with his chin. 

“Oh, no I haven’t. Hold on,” said Ravi.

Ravi unlocked his phone and clicked on the notification. He read the message and huffed, then placed his phone back down on the desk. 

“Oh my god, that’s a relief,” said Ravi. Jaehwan nodded, glancing at the message again.

“Jun and Lucas were involved too?” Ravi quietly asked, more to himself than Jaehwan.

“Well, I mean if it’s a full attack on their base, then it’s expected. They’ll be alright, though,” said Jaehwan, “But I do wonder what it was that attacked them.”

Jaehwan stepped back and plopped down on the futon, leaning back until he was comfortable. Ravi spun his chair to face him, abandoning his computer.

“Yeah, me too,” Ravi said, puzzled. A beat of silence passed before Jaehwan spoke.

“I have a theory...about the upcoming press conference. Well, a few, actually, but they may be a little far fetched,” Jaehwan said.

“Okay, shoot,” said Ravi as he leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms. Jaehwan cracked his knuckles and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

“Theory number one: Holograms,” said Jaehwan, holding up his index finger, “But I don’t know how that would work if they need to save people from whatever the crime will be.”

Ravi nodded thoughtfully leaned forward in his chair so he was in a similar position as Jaehwan. He rested his chin on his fist and hummed.

“Okay, so what’s scenario number two?” Ravi prompted.

“Number two, an illusionist is involved. Or multiple, since it’d be a lot of work to change the appearances of six people at a time,” said Jaehwan.

“That sounds more solid,” said Ravi. 

“Yeah, I don’t think I can come up with any flaws except for inaccurate voices, maybe. I know Jeonghan can’t do voices, well, to be fair he escaped before they finished working on him..but if there’s someone like me, then maybe its possible, but again that’s extremely difficult for multiple people,” said Jaehwan, “So that leaves one more option.”

Ravi raised a brow and adjusted in his chair before leaning forward once more, waiting for Jaehwan to speak. Jaehwan cast a glance at the door, then looked back at Ravi.

“Cloning,” said Jaehwan.

“Cloning?” Ravi repeated, puzzled.

“Uh-huh. Taeyong can clone himself, no, he _used_ to be able to clone himself, right?” Jaehwan stood and walked to the water dispenser, filling a small styrofoam cup with cold water.

“Yeah, and?” Ravi questioned. Jaehwan chugged the water then placed the empty cup aside. 

“ _ And _ that might be why. In the process of making them, it might’ve been too much of a strain, which is why he can’t clone himself anymore, like what happened to Sanghyuk,” Jaehwan said, now pacing around the room.

“That was temporary though. Sanghyuk can use his ability just fine,” Ravi said, spinning the chair to face Jaehwan.

“This might be temporary as well, just a longer recharge period. How long did it take Sanghyuk to get back to normal? Five months?” Jaehwan asked.

“Six months,” Ravi stated.

“Exactly! They’ve only been here for a few weeks and he hasn’t been training as much as Ten and Mark have. What else would make him like that?” Jaehwan questioned, stopping in his tracks.

“Maybe whatever made him attack Hongbin,” said Ravi, though it sounded unsure.

“Nah...Ten said that was like a steroid or something...” said Jaehwan, holding a hand to his chin thoughtfully. His eyes glazed over and flickered around as he searched for a follow-up thought, but ultimately lost track of it. 

“I think that the illusionist idea might be our best bet, if we ask Jeonghan then maybe he could give us more info to their limits,” Ravi suggested.

“Yeah...I don’t know. I’ll ask him, but later on. The sun will rise soon so they’ll probably be heading to bed. You should too, your eyebags are so deep that I could probably carry shit around in them,” said Jaehwan with a smirk.

“Hey!” Ravi exclaimed.

“Get some rest, see you tomorrow,” Jaehwan sing-songed as he opened the door. Ravi sighed and gave him a two-fingered salute just as Jaehwan passed through the door and closed it.

“You too,” Ravi muttered.

With a sigh, Ravi turned in his chair and pulled himself back towards his desk. He realigned the monitor, mouse, and keyboard then reopened the application he’d minimized. He scanned over the block of text and pursed his lips, pressing the enter key before he continued typing.

**Thank you for your consideration, I will keep in contact.**

**With gratitude,**

**Kim Wonshik.**

Ravi reread the message, and with a fleeting moment of hesitation, he clicked the send button and a small notification with red text appeared:

**Message Sent.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was a bit difficult getting through this one because my time management has been horrible but otherwise, all is well^^ I hope you all have a nice day!


	21. "All Good Things..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: There's a tiny bit of implied gore in this chapter but nothing explicitly stated. It's only for a couple of sentences.

_ Nerve-wracking. Anxiety inducing. Stressful. _

_ None of those were words Chan could use to explain how unpleasant this all was.  _

_ His feet ached with the effort it took to find the dining hall, but he was here, finally, after twenty minutes of getting lost in the labyrinth that was the SM building. At first glance, he could definitely do without the sheer amount of trainees bustling about, chit-chatting in groups as they made their way around the aisles to find their respective tables.  _

_ Nervously toying with the edge of his white uniform, Chan stepped past the four stoic red-clad guards in front of the sliding glass doors and into the cafeteria. The doors slid shut behind him, and he was met with a large room with a red-painted ceiling that was equivalent to three floors of the apartment complex he used to live in. The tiles on the floor were red, matching the ceiling. The entire room was illuminated by the disc-shaped lights that looked as though they were a part of the white walls. Chan had to blink a few times to let his eyes adjust to the amount of light, and once his vision cleared, he spotted two more guards who stepped in front of him. _

_ Chan froze in his tracks and looked up at their faces, which were hidden by translucent face shields. One of them pulled a small rectangular object from his belt and pointed it towards Chan’s face. _

_ A light flashed from the tip, making Chan’s vision spotty for a few seconds. By the time he blinked away the dots, the guards had moved to the side, granting him access. He stared at them for a moment, confused, but decided to leave whatever that was as it was and go about his original plan to get some food. He was  _ **_starving_ ** _. _

_ There were four stations he could choose from spread across the cafeteria but no labels to indicate what the options were. Chan squinted at the trays that other trainees held, trying to see what the contents were and where they came from. A few trainees walking from the station farthest to Chan’s left and their trays had dishes of some kind of baked pasta. The second station had salads and fruit bowls. The third station seemed to be reserved for beverages and light, healthy snacks like dried fruit and nutritional bars. A pleasant, familiar smell wafted by Chan’s nose and he followed it towards the direction of the fourth station. As he got closer, he could see an array of food that made his mouth water just by looking at it.  _

_ Stir-fried vegetables, chicken soup, different varieties of noodles, kimchi stew, and fish grilled to perfection. Chan watched as the worker spooned a ladle of thick stew into a metal bowl of rice and placed the bowl onto a tray before handing it over the counter to a trainee. In his daze, Chan managed to swallow so he didn’t drool all over himself, but shuffled towards the counter, his eyes following the ladle.  _

_ And then he hit something.  _

_ Ah, and now he was on the floor somehow, and his bottom hurt. _

_ “Oh! I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you there!” _

_ Chan looked up from his spot on the floor and saw a hand offered to him. He followed the line of the person’s arm up to their face, and before him was a boy that was probably a few years older than him staring back at him with concerned eyes. His long, raven hair flowed past his ribcage, swaying slightly as he bent down further to take Chan’s hand and help him up.  _

_ “Are you okay?” the boy asked.  _

_ After a pause, Chan realized he was asked a question and rapidly nodded, much too fast to be casual. _

_ “Yeah! Yeah, I'm good. Sorry,” Chan said, letting go of the boy’s hand. _

_ The boy tilted his head to the side and his eyes narrowed as he observed Chan’s face.  _

_ “Are you new? I don’t think I’ve seen you around before,” the boy said. _

_ “Actually, yeah,” Chan rubbed at the back of his neck and nervously chuckled, “It’s my first day here.” _

_ “Really?” the boy beamed after blinking in surprise. _

_ “Well, I’m Jeonghan, what’s your name?” Jeonghan exclaimed. _

_ “Uh...Chan,” said Chan. _

_ “Nice to meet you. If you need any help getting around, just let me know,” said Jeonghan. _

_ Chan didn’t have time to respond as another boy approached and slung an arm around Jeonghan, earning a light yelp in response.  _

_ “Hi!” the boy beamed, flashing a smile that showed off his sharp canines. _

_ “Ugh...Mingyu, you scared me!” Jeonghan lightly slapped the boy’s shoulder and sighed. _

_ “Sorry,” Mingyu said, the sheepish smile still on his face, “Hi, Jeonghan’s friend.” _

_ “His name is Chan,” Jeonghan corrected. _

_ “Oh, my bad. Hi, Chan, I’m Mingyu,” said Mingyu. _

_ “Ah, nice to meet you, I’m Chan,” Chan cringed and mentally facepalmed, “He just said that, sorry, uhh-” _

_ Chan was cut off by his stomach growling, which he prayed that Jeonghan and Mingyu wouldn’t hear, but of course, with how things were going today, they did. Chan could tell by the way Jeonghan’s eyes flickered down to where he’d covered his stomach with his arms then back up to Chan’s face with a smirk. _

_ “Come on, go ahead of me. Don’t wanna keep you waiting,” said Jeonghan, stepping aside so Chan could skip him in line. _

_ “No, no, it’s okay, I don’t wanna cut the line…” Chan trailed off as his stomach growled again. _

_ “We’re at the end of the line, it’s okay. Come on,” said Jeonghan, walking behind Chan himself. _

_ “Well...if you say so...thanks,” said Chan, hesitantly shuffling ahead of Jeonghan.  _

_ “No problem,” Jeonghan assured, sweeping his hair over his shoulder. _

_ “If you want to, you can sit with us- ah, but if you have a table already that’s fine,” Mingyu offered.  _

_ Chan shuffled forward as the trainee in front of him did as well, then turned back around to face Mingyu. _

_ “I’d be glad to... if I’m not intruding or anything,” Chan replied. _

_ “Of course you aren’t intruding,” said Jeonghan, almost sounding offended, “we’ll take you there after we get our food.” _

_ Chan nodded then turned back around to see what he wanted his lunch to be. He ended up settling on stew over rice, while Jeonghan decided to have stir-fried vegetables and Mingyu got grilled fish. After they all had their trays set, the two boys guided Chan through the labyrinth of trainees until they approached a table that had a few other people sitting at it already. There was a girl with short shaggy hair digging into a bowl of rice and vegetables, a boy with brown curls and doe eyes that stared at him with curiosity, and another boy whose face was half-covered by his long bangs. _

_ “Alright guys, we met a newcomer. Would you like to introduce yourselves?” said Jeonghan as he and Mingyu took a seat on either side of Chan on the opposite side of the rectangular table as the rest of them. _

_ “Hemmmo- mnf numf myuh-” the girl said, muffled through a mouthful of food. Mingyu frowned in disgust and used a napkin to wipe up a stray piece of rice that flew onto the table from her mouth. The girl finished chewing and swallowed, flashing an apologetic grin at Mingyu before facing Chan again. _

_ “Sorry, haha, my name is Miya, nice to meet you,” said Miya. _

_ “I’m Hansol,” said the boy with brown curls with a monotonous voice, deeper than what Chan expected from him.  _

_ “And I’m Junji,” said the boy with long bangs, holding out a hand meant for Chan but directed at Jeonghan. _

_ “Wrong person,” Miya muttered as she shoveled another spoonful of rice into her mouth. _

_ “Huh?” Junji used his other hand to raise his bangs and squinted, then smiled upon seeing Chan and changed the direction of his hand, then let his hair flop back down, “Oh, hi, nice to meet you.” _

_ “You too...my name is Chan,” said Chan as he briefly shook Junji’s hand.  _

_ “First day?” Junji asked, retracting his hand and going back to eating his pasta.  _

_ “Yeah...I got here last night,” said Chan. _

_ “Oh, really? Him too,” Miya piped in, patting Hansol’s shoulder. Chan raised his brows and looked at Hansol, who simply nodded and took a sip of water before speaking. _

_ “Did you all meet today?” Chan asked.  _

_ “Nope, I went to middle school with Junji and Mingyu,” said Hansol. _

_ “Yeah, but we met Jeonghan and Miya maybe...was it a month ago?” Junji questioned. _

_ “Two months,” Miya corrected, holding up two fingers.  _

_ “Two months,” said Junji, mimicking the action, “Feels like I’ve known them for years though.” _

_ “Me too, I’m gonna miss you, man,” said Miya. Chan’s eyes darted to Miya then back to Junji who nodded. _

_ “You’re leaving SM?” Chan asked.  _

_ “Not the company, my contract just started. I’m moving up a level,” said Miya. _

_ “Already?” Mingyu gaped. _

_ Miya took a sip of her water before screwing the cap back onto the metal bottle.  _

_ “I know, right! I’m so excited. I guess my audition was better than I thought,” said Miya, giggling before she ate the last bit of her rice and set the bowl and spoon aside.  _

_ “I wonder what ability you’ll get,” said Jeonghan.  _

_ “The new ones are so cool. I wanna get one like what Irene has,” said Miya, her eyes gleaming. _

_ “Hypnosis?” Chan questioned. _

_ “Mhm. It’s not violent and I can still help people so I think it’d be nice,” Miya explained.  _

_ Chan nodded in understanding and took another bite of his stew. He figured that’d be nice. Passive abilities would still allow him to stop crime without hurting anyone, whether it’d be on accident or purpose. Well, he didn’t think he’d ever try hurting anyone on purpose, but he still didn’t want to risk his ability going out of control. He remembered seeing an ex-trainee now Anti on the news who’d blown all the circuits in the Arena with his electric-based ability and it had injured a few of the staff on the scene, hence most of the battles happening via simulation afterward. Chan thought it’d be nice if trainees could debut without the Arena battles, but SM needed to make money somehow.  _

_ Oh well. _

_ Chan took another spoonful of rice and shoved it into his mouth.  _

_ It wasn’t his problem to worry about yet. He’d deal with it when the time came, and that time wasn’t now. _

_. _

_. _

_. _

_. _

_. _

_. _

_. _

_ All Chan could do was groan as he laid on the ground, clutching his arm. A figure loomed over him, the light against its back hiding its features. Chan hissed through his teeth and rolled over, facing away from the figure. A hand stopped him from moving too far and rolled him back onto his back. When Chan fully opened his eyes, the hand was still extended. _

_ “Come on, I didn’t even hit you that hard,”  _

_ Chan tried to suppress a grin but failed, and with a sigh of surrender, he took the hand and used it as leverage to rise to his feet. He snickered and poked the figure in the middle of the forehead, pushing their head back with the force. _

_ “Jeez, Junji. Your ability isn’t even strength, why are you so strong?” Chan asked. _

_ “I’ve been doing more strength training. Speed is cool and all but if I can’t use it for whatever reason then I’m gonna need some kind of backup,” said Junji with a confident smile. _

_ “Really?” _

_ “You bet-” _

_ Chan smirked and kicked the back of Junji’s knees, laughing as Junji stumbled. _

_ “You didn’t see that coming?” Chan teased. _

_ “Haha funny,” Junji let out a sarcastic laugh, raising his bangs to glare at Chan, “You’ve been hanging around Jeonghan too much.” _

_ “Learned from the best. Where is he, anyway?” Chan asked, scratching his head.  _

_ “He and Mingyu are helping Miya get ready for the Arena. Hansol said he’ll meet us there,” said Junji, grabbing his water bottle from the other side of the training room. Chan slung his bag over his shoulder and waited for Junji to come back before they both exited the room, the metal doors sliding shut behind them. _

_ “I’m so happy that she’s going to debut soon. She’s had it rough lately,” said Chan.  _

_ “Same here, I hope it's true that once heroes debut they get a bit more time off, well, I suppose it's not really time off considering that they have to be prepared 24/7, but she’ll at least have more money for herself and her family,” Junji said. _

_ “Mm-hm. It’s also nice that Mingyu and Joshua have their press conference right after hers, good for them,” said Chan as they turned around a corner in the hall. _

_ “You know, I don’t think I've talked to Joshua much, is he nice?” Junji asked. _

_ “Yeah, he’s cool. Don’t tell either of them I said this, but I’m pretty sure he’s into Jeonghan,” Chan said, lowering his voice so it wouldn’t echo in the hall. _

_ “Seriously?” Junji exclaimed. _

_ “Shh,” Chan put a finger to his lips, whipping his head around to make sure nobody was nearby, “But yeah, it’s kind of obvious once they’re both in the same room.” _

_ “Wow...what a brave soul,” said Junji, then blew a raspberry.  _

_ After another turn, the two could see an elevator placed at the end of the stark white hall. The door was outlined with red, which continued down the walls of the hall before fading out. They approached it and Chan pressed the down button, which lit up on contact and glowed red. A few seconds passed before the elevator dinged, and the doors slid open, allowing the two to enter.  _

_ An array of buttons ran down the wall, lighting up as the automated voice read over all of them. Before the voice could finish, Chan pressed the button to the first level of the basement, and the doors quietly slid shut.  _

_ Chan was always interested as to what would be in the lower levels of the SM basement. He’d been to the first level to access the train that would take him to the Arena, but never lower. Rumors went around that the lower levels were where the more...morally ambiguous abilities were given, but Chan figured it was probably just a rumor. Both Junji and Miya told Chan that they’d been on the higher floors when they received theirs. Chan couldn’t blame the trainees that spread rumors though, sometimes the endless training became so tiring and mundane that they needed something to spice up their day. The different theories were interesting and almost funny to Chan, Junji said that he’d heard that the SM scientists were trying to figure out how to clone people, but for some reason out of all things, it just didn’t seem real to Chan. If a new ability was being worked on, SM wouldn’t shut up about how innovative said ability would be. When enhanced speed was first introduced, Chan couldn’t go more than a few days without hearing about it, usually from Hansol since the boy was interested in how abilities were developed and distributed, but here Junji was with the ability along with a handful of other trainees Chan knew had it as well.  _

_ The elevator doors opened and they stepped out onto the smooth, white tiled floor. There were a few meters of walking room and then a red, glowing line across the floor to signify the safe zone. A bit further and there was the guideway for the hovertrain. On the wall behind the guideway was a digital schedule of the inbound and outbound trains as well as a timer for each. The timer for the outbound train was at a minute and a half, steadily counting down and Chan sighed in relief that they’d made it on time. The next train came ten minutes after anyway, but he still wanted to see Miya and give her some encouragement before she went into the Arena.  _

_ Chan and Junji waited in comfortable silence for the remaining time until they felt a breeze from down the tunnel, blowing Junji’s hair out of his face and earning a light chuckle from Chan as Junji quickly flattened it to its previous style. The train smoothly glided to a stop and lowered enough for Chan and Junji to board. Junji took a seat next to the door while Chan opted to stand and hang onto one of the bars to keep balance. The door shut after half a minute and the train raised off of the ground once more before shooting down the tunnel, sending both of the boys leaning to the side with the momentum. Chan straightened up and readjusted his hold on the bar. At least he hadn’t fallen this time.  _

_ It was a short ride to the Arena, only taking five minutes for the train to pull into the Arena’s station. Unlike the station at SM, the Arena’s station was mostly black and lit by the white bars of light that ran around the walls. Chan and Junji waited for the train to come to a full stop before stepping off and heading down the open, circular hall towards the waiting room. The doors were open, so from down the hall, Chan could already see a few trainees that had gathered to watch. He sped up his steps, hoping to be able to claim a good seat before he went to see Miya.  _

_ As soon as he entered the room, as though he sensed them, Chan saw Joshua turn around from the front row of stools and smile before waving them over. Chan directed Junji down the steps towards the front row and returned Joshua’s smile as they approached. _

_ “I saved your seats,” said Joshua. _

_ The front row was directly in front of the thick glass barrier that separated them from the actual Arena. The Arena was just that, an Arena, that was about three floors deep with a wide, black stage at the bottom. There were four raised circular platforms surrounded by lights and metal stands that had wires to connect to the sensors on the trainee and track their movements. On the wall of the Arena was a set of screens that allowed the audience to see what the trainees would see inside of the simulation.  _

_ Chan looked at the four platforms and hummed in confusion. He didn’t recall the names of the other three trainees that’d be in her group. Miya had mentioned them briefly but that was a couple of weeks ago and he hadn’t had the chance to ask her again since she was so busy.  _

_ “Thanks, did you talk to her yet?” Chan asked. _

_ “Yeah, about ten minutes ago. Jeonghan, Hansol, and Mingyu are still in there,” said Joshua, then his eyes flickered behind Chan, “Ah, nevermind there they are.” _

_ Chan turned his head and saw Hansol and Jeonghan exit the second door in the room. Jeonghan grinned upon seeing them and once he reached them, took a seat.  _

_ “She’s going out in a few minutes so go while you can,” said Jeonghan. _

_ On a closer look, Chan could see how tense Jeonghan’s posture was and the way his fists were clenched, and honestly he couldn’t blame him. Luckily the Arena battles weren’t solely physical, but being in the simulations was just as exhausting on the body and mind. Miya was fully capable, but it didn’t ease Chan’s nerves either.  _

_ “We’ll be back,” said Junji as he placed his bottle on the floor beneath one of the stools.  _

_ They wound through the row with quiet apologies to the couple of trainees they bumped into before finally making it to the waiting room and entering after scanning their ID cards. It took Chan a moment to actually see where Miya was due to the number of interns and tech workers bustling around making sure everything ran smoothly. Luckily, he could spot the top of Mingyu’s head and used it as a beacon to find his way around the workers with Junji until they reached the two.  _

_ Miya sat in a chair not too far from the elevator that would take her to the bottom of the Arena, and Mingyu stood behind the chair, making slight adjustments to her hair which had grown past her ears into a sort of mullet that was dyed a subtle, midnight blue. She wore a simple, all-black outfit consisting of a t-shirt tucked into jeans with the exception of a red belt and a silver necklace. She’d already had her makeup done, which was simple yet striking with long-winged eyeliner and red eyeshadow. _

_ “You look like you’re about to go on a runway, not into battle,” Junji remarked. _

_ “Really? Thanks, they let Jeonghan do my makeup,” Miya beamed. _

_ “More like he demanded to do it because it wasn’t ‘dramatic’ enough, but at least it turned out well, I guess,” Miya added on, chuckling, “I’m a bit nervous though, I hope I do well.” _

_ “Of course you’ll do great, didn’t you practice in a simulation before?” Mingyu asked. _

_ “Mhm, but this is my first time actually doing one with the rest of the girls. They wanna see some impromptu teamwork,” said Miya, frowning a bit. _

_ “You’re really good at adapting so you’ll definitely do well,” Chan assured. _

_ “Yeah, you’ve beaten all of us in sparring on multiple occasions, even Mingyu, so you can definitely handle a few robbers,” said Junji. Miya huffed and lowered her head.  _

_ “Thanks guys, really,” Miya said, rising to her feet as her bracelet beeped, signifying that it was time to go. _

_ She turned around and gave Mingyu a brief hug, then Junji and Chan. She pressed the button on the elevator then placed one hand on Chan’s shoulder and the other on Junji’s shoulder then sighed dramatically. _

_ “Oh, into the depths I go. I’ll see you on the other side, comrades,” Miya announced, hardly keeping herself from laughing. _

_ “Oh my god…” Chan groaned in fake annoyance. _

_ “Alright, I’m going. Cheer for me, okay? I’m expecting a celebratory party afterward, banner, cake and all,” said Miya, stepping backwards into the elevator after the other three trainees filed in.  _

_ “You won’t be able to hear us,” Mingyu countered. _

_ “It’s the effort that counts,” said Miya.  _

_ She clicked her tongue and winked, shooting two finger guns at the boys, then the elevator doors closed, taking her out of their sight. Mingyu chuckled and shook his head. _

_ “Let’s get back before it starts,” said Mingyu. _

_ The three exited the room before the staff had the chance to kick them out and quickly made it to their seats, thanking Joshua again for saving them. Chan leaned forward and stared intently at the stage, waiting for Miya and her group to come out. The red dot in the upper right corner of one of the screens lit up, indicating that the cameras had started rolling.  _

_ Four bright spotlights turned on at once, pointing down directly onto each platform. The platforms appeared to open in the middle, and shortly after, four heads became visible as the stage lifts rose, slowly revealing the trainees. Chan’s eyes immediately found Miya and he watched as she lifted her arms and let the staff connect the wires off of the metal stands to the sensors on her headpiece and the other straps on her body. After it became too difficult to see her directly, Chan settled for the screen that was focused on her. _

_ Her expression was hardened in focus, her eyes sharp as she moved her limbs, making sure the wires wouldn’t obstruct her movement. The staff member asked her something, and she nodded, and with that the staff backed away out of sight and the camera zoomed out to show her entire body. A light on her headpiece glowed, and her eyes glazed over, looking at nothing in particular. _

_ The simulation had started. _

_ The largest screen faded from black and the landscape began to build itself from the grid before solidifying into solid images. They were in the city, it seemed. It was nighttime, the neon lights reflecting off of the rainy streets. Miya spun around, gaping in awe at the sight. She extended her hand, feeling the raindrops as they landed on her palm. Chan had never been in a simulation himself, but based off of her reaction, he supposed that it felt realistic enough. It was cool, but he’d be lying if he claimed not to be a bit scared of it. _

_ An explosion sounded in the distance, and Miya whipped her head around to see smoke billowing from the town hall. Her and the three trainees immediately began to run towards it, one of the girls using her ability of flight to ascend out of the alley they were in. Within the simulation, she was well above the buildings, but when Chan looked at her through the glass, she was only mere inches off the platform.  _

_ Miya leaped over a pile of garbage and skidded to a stop once she reached the street, briefly looking around for a shortcut before continuing to run down the sidewalk. Soon enough, the town hall was in sight, only a couple more blocks away. The flying girl descended and slowed to match Miya’s pace. _

_ “I’m going to the top floors to check for survivors above the explosion, where will you be?” the girl asked. _

_ “Depends,” said Miya, she pressed a button on her earpiece, “Hannah and Yuqi, where are you headed? Soojin is with me right now.”  _

_ “Looks like the criminals already got out of the building. I’m going to help people evacuate the building and immediate area in case the building collapses. Yuqi?” came Hannah’s voice. There were a few seconds of silence before Yuqi spoke. _

_ “There're two getaway cars, one headed East and the other South. I’ve got the one going East,” said Yuqi. _

_ “Okay, I’ve got South,” Miya responded. _

_ “Hannah, I’m headed your way,” said Soojin, flying ahead of Miya at full speed. _

_ “Yuqi, did you get the plates for the getaway cars?” Miya asked. _

_ “They don’t have license plates,” Yuqi said between breaths, it sounded like she was running as well. _

_ Miya’s brows quirked and she cocked her head to the side. Guess that made things a bit easier. _

_ Miya kept running but checked the road. The next intersection was too far away so in order to get by she’d have to cut through. Miya inhaled and made a sharp turn directly into the road, narrowly avoiding the cars and Cycles that zoomed by. _

_ Chan winced as she did so, knowing that it’d knock a few points off of her score. From next to him, he heard Jeonghan lightly click his tongue, probably with the same thought. He briefly glanced at the other screens to see that Soojin was helping a man down who had jumped from a window to escape the flames, Hannah was on the ground, directing people away from the building as she said she would, and Yuqi was using her speed to keep up with the truck she was chasing down. When he turned his attention back to Miya’s screen, she was on a desolate backstreet that led away from Town Hall.  _

_ It made sense, Chan figured, no criminal in their right mind would allow themselves to be caught in the traffic of one of the main roads.  _

_ “I don’t see anyth-'' Miya began, but was cut off by a large white, moving truck that whizzed by, well above the speed limit. As it passed, Miya noticed its lack of a license plate. _

_ “Nevermind.” _

_ Miya exhaled, the burn in her legs getting to her, but continued her pursuit after the truck. The rear door of the truck lifted up, revealing one of the criminals who wore a black mask that covered their entire face. They reached behind them and their hand emerged with a gun. They immediately began shooting, and Miya simply raised her forearm to guard her eyes but continued running straight ahead.  _

_ The bullets hit her arms, her shoulders, and her abdomen but simply bounced off. Ripples of gold spread from where the bullets made contact, and Miya’s body began to have a subtle glow. The criminal appeared to have caught on to the bullets not affecting her, and in the midst of panic as Miya’s speed picked up, they grabbed a small, cylindrical object and chucked it at the ground in front of Miya.  _

_ The grenade blinked three times then rapidly began to flash, and Miya leaped directly above it, bracing herself. The grenade exploded in a burst of light, and Miya’s body went hurtling through the air ahead of the truck, spinning in the air with the force of the blast.  _

_ A few of the other trainees in the room gasped, but Chan didn’t pay them much mind, only smirking as he knew what would come next.  _

_ Miya regained control of her body and turned herself upright before landing on her feet, the ground cracking below her with the impact. Her body was glowing brighter than it had before, the gold radiating off of her in waves. The truck sped up as it approached her, so she planted her feet firmly onto the ground, standing at an angle, and extended her arms in the direction of the truck, leaving her elbows slightly bent. _

_ The truck hit her but abruptly slowed as she remained in her position, only getting displaced by a couple of meters. The golden light encapsulated both Miya and the truck before it left her completely, fading out of sight. The back of the truck lifted off of the ground from the momentum before slamming back down. The truck shuddered as the last of the energy passed through it before coming to a still. _

_ Miya pulled back, dusting off her unharmed hands and immediately ran to the driver’s side of the truck. She opened the door and went to restrain the criminal, but they appeared to be knocked unconscious already as their head lolled to the side. Miya carefully removed their mask, and jerked back immediately, stumbling off of the platform used to step up into the truck. She looked at the driver, then back at the mask, and dropped the mask onto the ground.  _

_ The mask had two sharpened steel horns on the inside, ones that would lightly rest against the temples if not worn too tightly, but with the force of the truck stopping-... _

_ Chan leaned forward, and his jaw dropped at the sight. It was censored on the screen, the horns covered with layers of static as well as the two matching spots on the driver's head. But Chan knew that Miya could see everything.  _

_ Miya’s breathing quickened as she stared at the woman’s face, staggering back from the truck but she wasn’t able to tear her eyes away. Chan had never seen the woman before, but she had a close resemblance to Miya, if she were maybe thirty or so years older and that was all he needed. He turned his attention to the bottom of the Arena to see Miya, but as it was still too far, his eyes flickered around until he found the screen centered on her face.  _

_ Her eyes were still unfocused, but the rest of her face was in pure distress, and some crystalline, green substance had begun to creep along her forehead and cheekbones from where the headpiece connected to her head. _

_ It was Jeonghan who got up first, breaking Chan out of his daze. Jeonghan headed straight for the waiting room Miya had been in before. Two guards stepped in front of him blocking his path but didn’t bother so much as to look at him.  _

_ “The simulation needs to be stopped immediately,” Jeonghan demanded.  _

_ Chan knew that their words wouldn’t have an effect, and he knew that Jeonghan knew that as well, but it didn’t stop him. The guards didn’t move or speak, remaining in their positions. _

_ “Something’s wrong, please, just...” Jeonghan pleaded. _

_ All of the trainees in the room flinched as a loud bang sounded through the Arena. The screens had blown out.  _

_ Chan jumped to his feet and leaned against the glass, struggling to see what was happening. The platforms beneath the girls began to spark, the lights flickering on and off before going out completely. Electric ran up the metal stands that surrounded the platform, and the cries of the girls echoed through the Arena as they crumpled to the ground.  _

_ “Miya!” Mingyu cried, pushing himself from the glass and rushing through the crowd of trainees to reach the waiting room. _

_ A chorus of gasps and questions spread through the room as the trainees watched the scene. A few trainees, including Hansol and Chan, were frozen in shock as the girls writhed around in pain. At some point, Hannah and Soojin had stopped moving while Yuqi rolled around on the platform, clutching her head. Miya was keeled over and with a final scream, removed the headpiece, flinging it away from her and then fell onto the ground, motionless. _

_ Jeonghan used the amount of chaos in the room to his advantage and completely masked himself out of sight, the only sign of him having been there a faint shimmer. Based on the way the guards grunted and stumbled aside, Chan figured Jeonghan had shoved his way through them. Chan was pushed aside by a trainee, forcing him to a wall with little mobility and all he could do was watch through the crack of the door as the elevator opened and shut right before one of the guards reached it. _

_ He quickly looked around, trying to find the others. Mingyu was being held back by one of the guards, his panic evident. Somewhere amongst the trainees he spotted a wide-eyed Hansol being ushered away from the crowd by Joshua. Junji wasn’t in sight. _

_ “Junji!” Chan called, though it was quiet compared to the loud, fearful voices of everyone else in the room as the door to get out appeared to be locked. By sheer luck, Junji’s head popped out of the crowd and he waded over to Chan, pulling him out of the mass of people.  _

_ “Jeonghan went down there,” Chan said, and it took a lot more effort than he would have expected as he was short of breath. _

_ “He _ **_what?_ ** _ ” Junji exclaimed.  _

_ Junji quickly looked around, catching sight of Hansol, Joshua, and Mingyu then looked down through the glass and sure enough he saw Jeonghan sprinting through one of the side doors directly towards Miya’s platform. Once he reached the platform, he leaned over Miya and held two fingers against her throat. After a few seconds, he turned his head to the side and leaned down to...oh god he was listening for a heartbeat.  _

_ One of the staff rushed from another door, directly towards Jeonghan, and Chan yelled his name in warning but the thick glass prevented the sound from getting through. The staff tackled Jeonghan off of the platform and onto the ground, and after a few seconds of wrestling him down, pulled out something and injected it into Jeonghan’s thigh, causing him to go limp. _

_ Chan’s legs wobbled and gave out beneath him, and he landed with a light thud. Stifled sobs were caught in his throat as he continued to hyperventilate, and he felt himself getting lightheaded from the lack of oxygen. The panicked shouts of the other trainees along with the loud orders from the guards all sounded like they were underwater. His hands had begun tingling and his tear blurred vision began to mush together into a blur of static. He felt someone take his face into their hands, but the contact was light, barely touching him.  _

_ “Chan,” Junji’s voice sounded so close yet so far away. _

_ “Hey, hey, Chan,”  _

_ “Chan-...” _

“Chan.”

Chan sat up abruptly, clutching at his chest. He heaved for air, taking deep breaths as though he had been drowning prior. The hands he felt before were still there, and he raised his head just enough to see Junji sitting on the bed next to him. Junji lowered his hands with caution and let them rest in his lap, though his gaze, uncovered as his hair was pulled into a bun, remained on Chan. 

“Are you alright?” Junji quietly asked. He knew Chan wasn’t, but he didn’t want to pressure Chan into talking if he didn’t want to. 

“Yeah, it was just…” Chan trailed off and wiped the wetness from his eyes. He checked the clock and sighed. Luckily he would have had to get up in less than an hour anyway.

“Was it about...them?” Junji asked, careful not to use their names. Chan sniffled, then nodded.

“Yeah,” Chan stopped as his voice cracked and cleared his throat before continuing, “I haven’t had a nightmare about...that day in months I don’t know why it’s coming back now.”

Junji remained silent, leaving the air open for Chan to talk more if he wished to. Instead, Chan simply stared at him for a moment, his eyes puffy, then looked away and abruptly removed his blankets and got out of bed, nearly hitting his head on the Junji’s bunk above him. 

“I’m gonna go get ready, are you free for breakfast?” Chan asked, struggling to keep his voice steady. 

He glanced back at Junji for an answer as he gathered what’d he need to take to the shower with him. Junji silently nodded, observing Chan’s movements. Without another word, Chan turned on the bathroom light and carefully shut the door behind him, leaving Junji in the dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this is the longest chapter i've written so far, and boy was it a DOOZY trying to edit it. Hoped you enjoyed it!


	22. Torn

Taemin woke up feeling warmer than usual, and much more comfortable. He didn’t feel like moving from his spot, but he didn’t think he could go back to sleep either so with a light sigh, he opened his eyes. He blinked away the grogginess and noticed that instead of a pillow, his head was resting on someone’s chest. 

Right.

He’d forgotten that he fell asleep in Hakyeon’s bed. The events from the prior night along with the journey to get to the VIXX base had been so exhausting that he’d fallen asleep rather easily. Right before he had headed to bed, they’d gotten a notification that Kai would be back to explain the situation since it was ‘easier to say in person’, whatever that meant. Without moving, Taemin glanced at the clock on the wall.

6:00 AM on the dot.

Taemin lightly sighed, cursing his body for sticking to the routine he had from SM even after the last few weeks. They hadn’t gone to sleep until nearly 3 in the morning, and as much as Taemin wished he could go back to sleep, he knew his body wouldn’t let him. Instead, he opted for tilting his head up just enough to see Hakyeon’s face and stayed there, watching him. 

Luckily, it seemed that over the years Hakyeon had picked up a bit of weight. His cheeks were not as gaunt as they used to be and his eyes were less sunken in compared to the last time Taemin had seen him. Overall, he’d become more muscular, filling out the places that were once bony. Taemin raised a finger cautiously and held it an inch away from Hakyeon’s cheek. He tentatively poked it, humming in amusement as Hakyeon didn’t stir. 

Taemin lowered his hand and placed it next to his head on Hakyeon’s chest, feeling his steady heartbeat beneath his fingertips. Taemin frowned as a few minutes later, Hakyeon’s heart began to thump faster. Taemin raised his head to look at Hakyeon and squinted in confusion. The latter’s brows were knit together, causing a few light wrinkles to appear. Taemin raised his hand and with his thumb, lightly pressed on the spot between Hakyeon’s brows, smoothing the skin over. 

Taemin jerked his hand back as Hakyeon deeply inhaled and shifted so his face wasn’t as buried in the pillow. Hakyeon’s eyelids fluttered open, still glazed over with fatigue. His dark irises flickered around, scanning the room before they settled on Taemin. 

“Good morning,” said Hakyeon, his voice a bit raspy from lack of use.

“...Good morning,” Taemin responded after a pause.

Taemin shifted so he could lower his head onto a pillow, a couple of feet away from Hakyeon. They stayed like that for a long moment, simply staring in the silence of the early morning. 

Normally, Taemin would have found this peaceful, simply enjoying each other’s company, but the way Hakyeon was looking at him made him feel a bit antsy. It was like Hakyeon was waiting for something, observing Taemin with what felt like an air of caution. If that were the case, Taemin guessed he couldn’t blame him. Everything felt right the night before, but once the initial feelings of relief passed, there was no doubting the sense of awkwardness. There was a lot they needed to talk about, but Taemin wasn’t sure if he wanted to. He would be content with ignoring the matter at hand, acting like the last six years didn’t happen, but Taemin also knew there was only so long he would be able to go without his curiosity getting the best of him. 

With the discomfort becoming nearly unbearable, Taemin finally broke from Hakyeon’s gaze and quickly looked around the room, taking in details that he hadn’t been able to see the night before.

A string of photographs were pinned onto a white bulletin board set by the door. Between them were snippets of written notes. There were dates under some of the photos, and in the top right corner, there was a to-do list in clear handwriting on a sheet of lined paper. Taemin recognized Jeonghan and 

Kihyun in one of the photos. His eyes fell on the next one, a candid of Taekwoon with a little red heart drawn in the corner of it. His breath hitched when he caught sight of one of the photos, the memory of having it taken clear in his mind.

_“Hurry up!” Kibum complained._

_Jooheon poked at the phone screen, opening up the camera. He fiddled with the settings for a moment, ignoring the tapping of Kibum’s foot which was somehow audible over the sounds of the festival._

_“Hold on, hold on,” said Jooheon, setting the timer to ten seconds._

_Taemin shuffled a few steps over, dragging Kibum by the hand so they’d be closer to Hakyeon and Taekwoon._

_“Perfect,” Hakyeon beamed, adjusting the pink scarf that he’d wrapped around Taekwoon’s neck earlier that night._

_Taekwoon didn’t respond, instead, he stared at Hakyeon until Jooheon suddenly leaped away from the phone and took wide strides towards the other four. The timer beeped with each second, and by ‘seven’, Jooheon had wedged his way between Kibum and Taemin. Kibum shifted and slung his arm around Jooheon’s shoulder as he checked to make sure everyone was in the frame._

_“Smile!”_

_Click._

“What are you thinking about?” Hakyeon quietly asked, ripping Taemin out of his short-lived nostalgia.

Taemin remained silent for a few seconds, then parted his lips, lightly inhaling before he spoke.

“Why didn’t anyone tell me about Jooheon?” 

Hakyeon’s eyes widened for a split second before narrowing. He raised himself off of the pillow and placed his weight on his elbow, looking down at Taemin.

“They didn’t tell you?” Hakyeon questioned. 

His voice was sharp, but Taemin heard a fraction of disbelief in his tone. Taemin shook his head and abruptly sat up.

“No. I got there and he just...ran past me. He didn’t even _recognize_ me,” Taemin fumed. 

“Hakyeon, why didn’t he recognize me? What happened while I was gone?” Taemin asked, hurt replacing his previously harsh tone. 

He let his hands fall to his lap in defeat but turned his head so he could make eye contact with Hakyeon. Hakyeon sat up, leveling their gazes but didn’t come any closer. He scanned Taemin’s features briefly, then lightly sighed. 

“I’m really sorry that you weren’t told about him. I thought you were told in advance. What happened to Jooheon...are you sure you want to know?” Hakyeon asked.

“If I didn’t want to know, I wouldn’t have asked,” Taemin snapped. Hakyeon slowly nodded before proceeding.

“After you left, Jooheon’s condition worsened exponentially due to stress. While I was on a run to get his medicine, I ran into Kihyun and Mingyu. They met not too long before while raiding a different supply center, they actually used to be rivals, but that’s beside the point. I learned that Kihyun could nullify or strengthen the abilities of others. So after some convincing, we made a deal. If he nullified Jooheon’s ability, then we would help them with food, medical care, et cetera. However…” Hakyeon pursed his lips, wincing at the memory. 

“As the ability wasn’t given directly to Jooheon, it was more difficult to remove and therefore took a bigger toll on both of them. Kihyun was out for a couple of days, but Jooheon had fallen into a coma for two weeks...and...and when he woke up he vaguely recognized us but he couldn’t recall anyone else being in the house. Not even those who used to work more closely with us. We assumed it was a result of trauma, his brain blocking out the source, so-” Hakyeon cut himself off, the unspoken words clear.

“You didn’t tell him about me?” Taemin questioned, without missing a beat.

Hakyeon’s eyes flickered down, and Taemin glanced to see what he was looking at, just realizing that he was slowly floating off of the bed, the blankets slipping away from his legs onto the mattress. He scoffed and pushed himself away from the bed before lightly landing on his feet. 

“We didn’t want him to relapse-”

“So you didn’t even _consider_ mentioning me? You said you never stopped looking for me, and Minhyuk said he knew who I was. Did Jooheon never question who you were searching for? Did he never ask why other bases were instructed to keep an eye out for me? Or are _all_ of you hiding it from him?” 

Hakyeon diverted his eyes and remained silent, confirming Taemin’s suspicions. Taemin scoffed once more and began to briskly walk towards the door.

“Where are you going?” Hakyeon asked, almost sounding panicked. 

“I’m taking a walk,” said Taemin, he stopped in his tracks in the middle of the doorway and spoke just loud enough for Hakyeon to hear, “I’m not running back to SM so don’t worry about covering my tracks.”

“Taemin-”

Taemin shut the door behind him and lifted himself off the ground so his footsteps wouldn’t be audible. He glided down the hall, pausing at the open door of the guest room. Mark and Taeyong were both undisturbed in their sleep, wrapped around each other underneath layers of fluffy blankets. Taemin felt a minuscule amount of anger leave him before continuing. 

He descended the stairs, taking sight of Taekwoon, Soonyoung, and Jeonghan on the couches. Taemin suppressed the urge to ‘accidentally’ bump the wall and wake them in favor of quietly passing through the kitchen and opening the door. Taemin would gain a fraction of satisfaction from the action, but he didn’t feel like speaking to them afterward, much less even look at them for any longer so he shut the door behind him with a light click before he let himself to his feet, which he now noticed were bare. The feeling of cold stone beneath his feet wasn’t pleasant but distracted him from the burning knot in his chest.

Taemin noticed a few more stones peeking through the lush grass, forming a path into the nearby line of trees. He stepped forward, then retracted his foot with a hiss at how cold the dewy grass was. He hopped onto the next stone, then the next one just because he could. They became farther apart as he went, but he hovered whenever his jump would fall short, barely avoiding touching the grass. 

Soon enough he was passing through the line of trees, which was much more shallow than he thought it’d be as he emerged into another opening shortly after. The path continued, leading to a wooden gazebo on the edge of a lake.

Taemin looked around, making sure nobody was nearby before walking down the rest of the path, mentally thanking whoever put the stones closer together. A cold breeze passed by, causing Taemin to retract his hands into the large sleeves of the cornflower blue sweater he wore.

The sweater that _Hakyeon_ had lent him for the night.

He scrunched his nose and frowned in disgust, shoving his hands back out into the cold air, taking an extra step to roll up the sleeves a bit, though it didn’t do much. Taemin entered the gazebo then shut the door, using all that was in him not to slam it. There were two seats opposite each other, surrounded by potted plants of different sizes and colors. 

Taemin could identify the two pots of lavender, painted a light purple to match their name. There was an olive green pot with basil, a few pots of lemon balm, and one that was unfamiliar to him. It hung from the ceiling, the stems curling in various directions. The leaves were smooth and waxy, and the flowers consisted of white petals emerging from deep pink centers in the shape of a star. The light layer of fuzz on the outer petals caught Taemin’s attention, and he then felt compelled to touch the flower. 

So he did—or he’d at least planned to.

His index finger was mere centimeters from the flower when he heard the door of the gazebo close. Taemin jerked his hand away and backed into the other side of the gazebo, though the structure was fairly small so it didn’t place much more distance between him and the door. He grasped around behind him, searching for a weapon, but froze when he saw it had only been Jaehwan who entered. 

“I was trying _not_ to scare you, but alright.” Jaehwan raised a brow, then shrugged and took a seat, ignoring the way Taemin glared at him.

“I see you like the plants. Sanghyuk grew them himself, that one is a Hoya plant. Or a ‘ _Hoya Bella’_ if you’re as anal about it as Hongbin is,” Jaehwan said, using his fingers for air quotations.

A flurry of potential insults and deterrents wracked Taemin’s brain, waiting on the tip of his tongue to be spat out, but he pursed his lips and searched for something else to say that would be more efficient with less malice.

“I’d rather be alone right now,” Taemin forced through grit teeth.

“Yeah, I heard,” said Jaehwan, tapping his ear with a finger.

“Can you leave then?” Taemin questioned after Jaehwan didn’t budge.

“Sorry, but no,” Jaehwan replied. 

_‘Don’t be ‘sorry’, just get out,’_ Taemin thought to himself.

“If you’re here to tell me to forgive him, I don’t want to hear it,” said Taemin, turning away from Jaehwan in favor of looking out on the lake.

“I’m not here on his behalf to ask for forgiveness, you’re rightfully upset,” said Jaehwan. 

Taemin caught sight of a trout and followed it with his eyes as it peacefully swam about.

“Then what are you here for?” Taemin asked.

“To let you know that we understand,” said Jaehwan.

“Who is ‘ _we_ ’?” Taemin tightened his grip on the railing and temporarily lost sight of the trout as it abruptly changed directions. He spotted it once more as it weaved its way through the water towards nothing in particular.

“Anyone who has known Hakyeon long enough to know his weaknesses,” said Jaehwan.

At Taemin’s silence, Jaehwan continued.

“One,” Jaehwan held up a finger, “Friends and family. Two,” Jaehwan held up a second finger, then lowered his hand to his side, “His perfectionism.”

“You knew Hakyeon before I did, so I’m sure that you know that already and... unfortunately, it hasn’t gotten much better. Over the last few years, I have tried...countless times to get him to open up. To tell us what’s going on in his head, his thoughts, his doubts, his ambitions, anything...but he just-” Jaehwan rubbed at his temple and sighed before proceeding.

“He tries so hard to act like he’s fine and has everything under control, but he doesn’t. And that’s fine, it's ridiculous to set all of this onto one person but what isn’t fine is how he refuses to even ask for help. Not to mention he still thinks that you having left was his fault,” said Jaehwan.

“But it’s not his fault, I left to gain enough money to support Jooheon,” Taemin interjected.

“Exactly! That’s what we’ve been trying to tell him, but despite all of us saying so, he still thinks he let you down to such an extent that instead of solely leaving for Jooheon’s sake, it would be an opportunity to get away from him…and I guess afterward he was so desperate to hold on to the only ones he had left that he didn’t want to take any risks that might harm them,” Jaehwan finished.

Jaehwan noticed Taemin clench his jaw and rose to his feet, approaching the railing and leaning an arm on it.

“Regardless, Hakyeon seems to believe it would have been a lose-lose, whether he told Jooheon about you or not,” said Jaehwan, “He feared that if he told Jooheon, Jooheon would be plagued with guilt and make himself sick again. Kihyun may have nullified his ability, but they didn’t know the extent that it would hold up. It’s like disabling an application, it may be disabled but it could potentially be reactivated. Well, except Jooheon is a person and not a computer so instead of manual activation it’d be triggered by a strong emotional reaction, and- I'm rambling aren’t I?”

Jaehwan snapped his head towards Taemin, cutting himself off. Taemin silently nodded, earning a grimace from Jaehwan.

“Sorry. Anyway, I see why you’re frustrated, I haven’t got the slightest idea as to why they wouldn’t have told you in advance...and I'm guilty of not telling Jooheon as well, since I knew about it...but despite everything, Hakyeon really did spend all of this time searching for you. If he actually wanted to hide your existence, none of us would be here. To be honest, that’s how we started all of this; through deals. Hakyeon provides me a hiding spot, food, shelter, company, free of cost as long as I would help look for you...and here we are. Same thing for the other bases, we collaborate for safety and to find those stuck behind,” said Jaehwan.

“And for the SVT base...that’s ‘Chan’, I'm guessing?” Taemin finally looked at Jaehwan, waiting for an answer.

“You got it,” Jaehwan replied.

“What do you do now? Now that you’ve found me?” Taemin questioned.

“Well, now, we continue helping them to reunite with Chan. Then we help the BTOB base with getting their friend, Peniel, back. We also have to figure out this whole...SuperM mess…” Jaehwan rubbed his temple as he thought of the list, squinting as he recalled everything.

“And then?” Taemin prompted.

“And then...I don’t know, to be honest with you. There’s no way we could go back, and frankly, living like this is hell but there’s no other choice. They call us rogues and Antis but don’t give us a way to ‘redeem’ ourselves, so we simply isolate ourselves until we bite the dust, I guess.” Jaehwan half-shrugged and looked back out onto the lake, watching as the light peeked through the trees as the sun began to rise.

“You accepted that rather quickly,” Taemin muttered, not thinking Jaehwan would hear it, but based on the light, yet bitter chuckle Taemin heard, he knew Jaehwan did.

“It’s the only thing I can do.”

Taemin glanced over to see that for once, Jaehwan’s smile had completely disappeared. His face was hardened but his eyes were softened at the edges by an unmistakable tinge of sadness. Jaehwan must have felt Taemin’s stare as he looked back at him, flashing the smallest of grins before looking away. Without another word, Taemin diverted his eyes and turned his attention back to the red-tinted sky, watching as the partially hidden sun emerged from the horizon.


	23. Cherry Pie and Tangerines

Minghao was never one to sleep easy.

He’d gotten a room alone as the mere shuffle of blankets on the other side of the room would keep him awake, but he’d never had that problem with Seokmin. 

Seokmin’s presence alone was calming, with or without his ability. Minghao couldn’t recall sleeping so deeply with anyone else except for him. Not that Minghao could sleep now anyway. There was a prominent burning in his eyes and weariness weighing down on his body, but his mind was rampant. 

Too many questions bouncing around his head with nowhere to go. 

All of those involved weren't exactly in peak condition to be asked. Jun was right there, in front of Minghao as he slept and Minghao wouldn't dare wake him in his current state. Jihoon was unconscious as well with no telling when he'd wake up and as much as he hated it, Minghao knew he couldn't be around Seokmin. Not with the tight knot of too many emotions to list tied around his heart. Seokmin already must have been overwhelmed as things were, Minghao assumed. 

Especially with Seungkwan and Joshua present.

Minghao wasn't an empath but he could practically feel the sheet of guilt that covered the entire base. He promised himself to check on them later. After all, despite Seungkwan's skills, the boy never handled blood too well. With that noted, there was one option left…

Lucas.

_No, out of the question._

Minghao cracked the knuckle of his index finger with his thumb and deeply exhaled through his nose. Had it not been for Lucas, Jun wouldn't be in this state.

Jihoon wouldn't have been forced to exert himself so much.

Seokmin wouldn't be bleeding out.

Minghao knew it wasn't logical to blame everything on Lucas, they _were_ in the same boat, but at that moment he just couldn't find it in him to care. Minghao mentally thanked Mingyu for keeping him out, he honestly wouldn't know what he would have done once he got in there anyway. 

Minghao shook his head. The more he thought about it, the brighter his anger blazed. 

He leaned forward to press the back of his hand to Jun's forehead. The fever had gone down. That was one good thing that Minghao could focus on.

_There were probably other good things he could think about, no?_

There was the time that he, Mingyu, and Joshua had spent the day baking together. It was for Seungcheol's birthday. It wasn't anything fancy, just a cherry pie. Well, a cherry pie that cost Minghao a hand cramp from decorating the crust with an array of hearts and flowers.

Wonwoo had walked by and suggested a simple, safe lattice. Of course, that had been instantly rejected, though Joshua thanked Wonwoo for the idea. A lattice would have been safe, but how boring would that be? 

A lattice...absolutely _not._ Not for Seungcheol, he was much more unique than that. Someone like Seungcheol deserved "a pie as breathtaking as him", as Jeonghan had phrased it. In the end, the pie was nowhere near breathtaking. The pie was small and a tad too crispy around the edges, courtesy to Mingyu, but despite its flaws, Seungcheol nearly cried upon receiving it.

_"Nearly"_

Minghao chuckled to himself. Seungcheol actually cried quite a bit, but if Minghao or anyone else for that matter heard it, they decided to act like they didn't. 

With a weary sigh, Minghao rose to his feet from the cross-legged position he was in. He would love to remain in the fuzzy headspace fantasizing about cherry pie crusts and perhaps having access to a kitchen of his own that wasn't in a bunker, but he had things to do in the present time. 

The first on his list was to check if the system was back up. When he left the Blue Room, Wonwoo was driving himself up a wall trying to fix it. If they were to be attacked again, Minghao honestly wasn't sure if they could successfully defend themselves. Not with Seungcheol and Soonyoung gone and Jihoon being done for the night, probably much longer than just the night if Minghao were to be honest with himself. 

Careful not to wake Jun, Minghao tiptoed towards the door. He didn't have to worry about turning the lights off as he never turned them on, Jun was half asleep when they entered the room and with Minghao's night vision, it's not like he needed to. 

Minghao quietly shut the door behind him then headed down the hall towards the Blue Room. He spotted Kai leaving from Hansol’s room down the hall, and he noticed Minghao as well, shooting him a glance before disappearing around a corner. A small ripple of relief passed through Minghao, knowing that Seungcheol was probably back and if not him then at least Soonyoung. Minghao briefly knocked before entering, and his steps stuttered a bit as he noticed Seungkwan already next to Wonwoo.

The boy was shaking like a leaf, his fingers trembling as he scribbled something onto a loose sheet of paper. His breaths were shallow and unstable as he placed the note down and slid it to Wonwoo, who was in a sort of trance as his fingers flew across the keyboard, clacking away as code flickered around the screen.

"Send that over when you can…" Seungkwan mumbled. 

Wonwoo made a humming noise to acknowledge that he'd heard Seungkwan, and without looking, brought the note closer to the keyboard. Seungkwan shuffled away from the desk and met Minghao's eyes. 

Seungkwan froze, eyes wide like a deer caught in headlights. Minghao instantly caught the way Seungkwan began to toy with the frayed edges of his sleeve, a nervous habit of his. He appeared unable to form words, and there was an unmistakable air of nervousness around him, though Minghao wasn't sure if his presence was the cause. 

_It probably wasn't,_ Minghao thought.

It was definitely to do with the condition of the members. Minghao didn't want to ask if Seungkwan was alright. Clearly, he was far from it. Even as they stood there, staring at each other, the lower lids of Seungkwan's eyes shined with tears that were seconds away from escaping and trailing down his cheeks. If he were to ask, Seungkwan would probably start crying right then and there, some people were just like that. They’d be “fine” until you asked them. Though, it wasn’t like Minghao wanted Seungkwan to bottle it up either. 

So he stepped forward and slowly, as to give Seungkwan the choice to reject the hug, opened his arms. Silently, Seungkwan shuffled forward and wrapped his arms around Minghao's waist, melting into the hug with a light, shaky sigh. Minghao returned the hug, bringing a hand up to stroke the back of Seungkwan's head, smoothing down the stray strands of hair. They stayed like that for a moment before Seungkwan pulled away and wiped at his eyes with the backs of his hands.

“Jihoon is still out but Seokmin is doing better, Kai brought Hongbin and one of the other boys to help out,” said Seungkwan before Minghao could think of what to say or do next.

“Hongbin’s here?” Minghao repeated.

Seungkwan nodded and passed Minghao to get to the door and Minghao followed, giving Wonwoo space to concentrate. Minghao quietly shut the door behind them and the two began to walk down the hall. 

“I know I said I wanted to see him soon but not like this,” said Seungkwan.

“Yeah,” was all Minghao could offer. 

Minghao wracked his brain, thinking about what he could say to Seungkwan without sending him overboard.

“Who did Kai bring, if not Taemin?” Minghao asked.

“Ten. I think that’s his name...his ability is...healing? I don’t know for sure,” Seungkwan said, momentarily shuffling to a stop. Minghao came to a stop as well, waiting for Seungkwan to continue.

“It’s weird, you know how I can kinda accelerate healing but even then there’ll still be scarring? His ability is different. Like...the cut just sealed itself and it was like it was never there to begin with,” said Seungkwan. 

Seungkwan’s puffy eyes hardened in concentration as he got lost in thought. Minghao didn’t respond in favor of watching, patiently waiting if Seungkwan decided to speak again. A brief moment passed and Seungkwan began to slowly start walking again.

They both came to an abrupt pause in both thought and movement as the lights brightened enough for Minghao to see spots then disappeared, leaving the hall dark. All was silent except the light gasp that escaped Seungkwan. Minghao let his eyes adjust to the new lighting or lack thereof, and took Seungkwan’s hand, guiding him down the hall. 

“Can you do me a favor and keep an eye on Jun?” Minghao asked.

Seungkwan nodded and followed Minghao, only stumbling a few times over some of the uneven flooring. Soon enough, they reached the door to Jun’s room, which Minghao opened for Seungkwan then proceeded to guide him to sit on the bed Jun was lying in. 

“If you need anything, call for me, or Hansol since he’s closer,” said Minghao.

“Okay,” Seungkwan quietly replied, scooting closer to Jun.

With that, Minghao exited the room and briskly made his way through the halls toward the medical office, forcing himself into a stoic demeanor. The last thing he needed was Seokmin getting overloaded at the same time as Jihoon. There was a bright flickering light coming from inside of the office, causing Minghao to widen his strides.

Minghao paused in the doorway, scanning his surroundings. Lucas was sitting on the edge of one of the beds, gripping onto Kai’s sleeve but was otherwise frozen with fear. Kai appeared more confused but was barely holding himself up with a hand against the bed as his knees were shaky. Ten was in a corner, inching along the wall toward Kai and Lucas’s silhouettes, careful to avoid the tendrils of electricity that shot out. On the other side of the room were Hongbin, Seokmin, and Joshua. With all of the strength in his bony body, Hongbin had pushed the bed Seokmin was in away from the center of the room, yelling at Joshua to back away from the center of the room. Minghao squinted, and there, in the center of the crackling light was Jihoon.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

_The sky was beautiful._

_It was clear aside from the occasional light, feathery cloud. The sun was bright, shining through the leaves of the forest and bathing Jihoon in warmth. He was thankful that the blanket he, Joshua, Mingyu, and Seokmin were sitting on provided a barrier between them and the hot stone beneath them. As much as he enjoyed the heat, he didn’t appreciate getting burned._

_Jihoon followed the movements of the knife Joshua held as he spread jam over a slice of toasted bread that he’d made earlier that morning. Joshua placed the finished slice onto a plate and slid it to Seokmin before grabbing another slice from the loaf. Seokmin eagerly took the toast and bit into it, giving Joshua a thumbs up as he chewed._

_“This is really good, Shua,” said Seokmin after he swallowed._

_Joshua’s eyes scrunched into crescents as his lips curled into a smile._

_“Thank you, I’ll have to tell Hakyeon how good the jams are, he’s getting better at making them,” said Joshua._

_“Yeah,” said Jihoon, “They were a little too sweet last time but this is perfect.”_

_Jihoon took a bite of his own toast and nodded, satisfied with the taste. Joshua held the jam covered knife to the bread, pausing abruptly as he realized it wasn’t toasted._

_“Ah, my bad. Mingyu?” Joshua chuckled and held the slice out to Mingyu, holding it at a corner between his thumb and index finger._

_Without a word, as his mouth was filled with the bite of apple he’d just taken, Mingyu held his hand a few inches from the bread. His hand glowed bright orange and parallel to where his fingers were, a golden brown crisp appeared on the bread. He kept his hand a safe distance away as he traced the outline in the air until the entire slice was evenly toasted. With a quick “thank you”, Joshua went back to spreading jam on the slice before carefully sliding it onto Mingyu’s plate._

_They spent the next hour or two nibbling on their toast between light chatter about small, seemingly meaningless things, like how the grooves in the bark of the tree they sat under looked like a face, and how it creeped out Seokmin._

_“Just a little,” Seokmin had claimed._

_At that, all Jihoon did was snort and lean forward to grab a tangerine. A comfortable silence followed, and Jihoon used that time to really take a look at the garden and admire the design. The pyramids of stones were a new addition, simple yet effective. Jihoon knew it must have taken a lot for Joshua to do it. He’d been using the garden as a way to slowly ease back into using his ability again. It was close enough to the base, and not many passed by it anyway._

_Jihoon was proud of Joshua despite not saying so aloud. He didn’t need to. Both he and Joshua understood without words having to be said, but that didn’t mean Jihoon didn’t wish he was better at expressing it openly._

_“You’ve come really far with the garden...it’s beautiful,” said Jihoon, picking at the peel of the tangerine._

_Joshua’s eyes fell onto Jihoon and then he froze, and Jihoon could practically see the gears in his brain stuttering as Joshua searched for a proper response._

_“Ah- thank you. I’ve been working hard on it,” said Joshua with a small grin as he absentmindedly drew shapes with his finger in the fabric of the blanket beneath them._

_Jihoon hummed in response before turning his attention to the tangerine in his hands. Tiny bits of peel hid beneath his nails from his attempts to find a good spot, but the deep orange peel remained fully intact. It laid in his palms, practically taunting Jihoon in the midst of his failure, staring up at him with the promise of sweet, refreshing juiciness now far from his reach. Jihoon heard a snicker from Mingyu and broke out of his staring contest with the tangerine to glance at him._

_“What?” Jihoon asked._

_Now that he wasn’t focused solely on the tangerine, Jihoon noticed the other two suppressing laughter as well._

_“You’re making that face, the one you make when you’re trying to focus but not actually getting there,” said Mingyu between chuckles, “It’s cu-”_

_Jihoon cut him off with a glare._

_“Fine, it’s charming,” Mingyu corrected._

_“Let me try,” said Seokmin before Jihoon could counter Mingyu’s statement, “I can feel your frustration from here.”_

_Jihoon let Seokmin take the tangerine away from him and watched as in a few smooth motions, the peel was removed all in one piece. Jihoon didn’t know why he felt impressed, it was a tangerine, nothing more, but he still found himself staring at the peeled tangerine in awe for a split second. Gingerly, as though it were made of glass, Jihoon took the tangerine from Seokmin and continued to observe it._

_“Wow,” said Jihoon, then looked at Seokmin, “Thank you.”_

_“No problem!” Seokmin replied, peeling a tangerine of his own and popping a wedge into his mouth._

_Jihoon followed suit, taking a wedge from the tangerine and eating it in one bite, relishing in the natural sweetness of the fruit._

_He’d brought the second wedge to his lips just as he started to feel an odd feeling begin to swirl in his chest. Jihoon instinctively looked towards Seokmin, confused as to what would upset him, but instead of appearing distressed, Seokmin was blankly staring at something behind Jihoon._

_Jihoon glanced at Joshua and Mingyu to see if they were staring at whatever it was as well, but the two were still in the middle of toasting slices of bread like nothing was out of the ordinary. Jihoon followed Seokmin’s line of sight and his body immediately tensed._

_Taemin loomed over the stone garden, hovering in one place, unsettling Jihoon in how still he was. Jihoon squinted, trying to see his face clearly, and by the time he saw Taemin’s eyes flicker red, it was too late._

_The high pitched sound of metal scraping together whizzed behind Jihoon, becoming almost unbearably loud before the sound was replaced by a sound akin to television static. Jihoon whipped his head around, terrified to find that neither Joshua nor Mingyu were there. Only Seokmin, eyes still blank and lacking any of his original liveliness._

_Jihoon winced as a wave of electricity ran through his body, crackling then fizzling out like a water doused flame. When he opened his eyes, Seokmin was out of sight. Jihoon hurriedly stumbled to his feet, spinning around as he searched for Seokmin. He opened his mouth to call his name but no sound followed._

_The ground violently shook, bringing Jihoon to his knees and causing the pyramids of stone to collapse into unorganized heaps. The fog in the air was growing thicker with each second and the sky had gone dark. Another jolt of electricity unwillingly left Jihoon’s fingertips, and Jihoon quickly grabbed hold of his hand with his free one, struggling to control it._

_A stinging pain became evident in Jihoon’s cheek and he raised his fingertips to it. When he lowered his hand, blood stained his fingers, shining in the low light of the moon. Something blurry and dark flew towards Jihoon, and he barely moved in time to avoid it. The projectile lodged itself in a tree branch, and only then Jihoon noticed that it was a knife with an all too familiar red handle._

_The dagger quivered before lifting from its spot and it shot past Jihoon, grazing his bicep before it disappeared into the fog. Jihoon followed the direction of the dagger with his eyes, watching as the fog cleared just enough for him to see the outline of X-Taemin’s figure. The dagger returned to X-Taemin’s right hand while his left arm was extended. His attention wasn’t completely on Jihoon, and Jihoon wasn’t left confused for long as a familiar image flashed before him._

_Seokmin was suspended in the air, limp and lifeless. Jihoon heard the blood splattering against the stone before he saw the vast array of wounds Seokmin possessed, and that was enough for him to jump into action. With all of the strength he could muster, Jihoon forced himself to move past what he assumed was X-Taemin’s restriction on his body and lunged forward, sending a bolt of lightning directly towards X-Taemin’s core._

_The lightning bolt cut clean through X-Taemin, leaving a gaping cavity in his chest that crumbled into ruby tinted embers at the edges, but the clone remained in his spot, offering Jihoon a small grin before clenching his fist. The sickening sound of bones crushing together reached Jihoon’s ears followed by a heavy, wet thud and Jihoon squeezed his eyes shut, not daring to look._

_A bright light cut through the fog and cracked the night sky into crystalline fragments as the static began to distort. Jihoon’s muscles furiously burned as the electricity shrouded him, and he would have screamed if he could. It felt like his cells were being ripped apart and sewn back together at the same time, violently vibrating and reforming his body. The world around him began to dissipate, leaving just what was left of his core in an endless void of white._

_Somewhere off in the sea of ivory, Jihoon heard a distant yet familiar combination of voices, or so he thought, he couldn’t tell where he was or if he even had ears to hear anymore. More of his body and mind flaked away and joined the void, the pain intensifying with each portion of him that left. Jihoon focused the last bit of his energy and tried to pull the voices closer to him, desperate for relief._

_One of the voices cut directly through the waves and reached Jihoon. It was unmistakable._

“Joshua?” came another voice that after a moment to process it, Jihoon realized it was his own.

Jihoon felt a painful gasp leave him as his body started to reconnect, piecing itself together like parts of a puzzle. 

“Yes, this is Joshua. Focus on my voice, alright? Could you do that for me?” 

Jihoon couldn’t see Joshua, but he nodded, hoping that wherever the latter was, he could see it. 

“Okay, good,” said Joshua, and there was a hint of strain in his tone.

“What’s wrong? What’s going on?” Jihoon asked.

Jihoon still couldn’t see past the light, but he felt the feeling return to his hands and used them to grasp for Joshua, only to find that the older’s hands, or so he assumed, were already planted on his shoulders. It grounded Jihoon for a brief moment before all of his senses came crashing down on him and he felt the sheer amount of electricity coursing through him and now _Joshua_.

“Joshua, get away from me,” Jihoon heaved. His vision was still clouded with white but he could finally see a faint outline of his surroundings, and Joshua was right above him. Jihoon made an effort to shift, though his muscles were all locked and Joshua’s probably were as well if he was absorbing that much energy.

“I said get away from-” 

Jihoon was cut off by another surge of electricity, the pain was bordering on excruciating, and the panic from him realizing he’d lost control certainly didn’t lessen it. Jihoon’s spine arched off of the medical bed and his entire body began to convulse. All thought left his mind and was replaced with pain and _fear_. Tears had begun to run from Jihoon's eyes, falling down the sides of his face and wetting the pillow beneath his head. Static filled his ears, covering the faint sounds of Joshua's suppressed groans. Just as Jihoon felt himself detaching from his body again, falling back into the void, something sharp pierced through the skin of his thigh and the world faded away to a sea of black.


	24. Dissension

Situations like these were the worst. 

Not specifically this one, though a clone of a friend's long lost brother figure nearly murdering the people dearest to Joshua along with some kid he hardly knew was quite the traumatic experience to say the least. 

What Joshua hated was the aspect of blame....or rather, the lack thereof. It was easy having a single target to pin the blame on, only one thing to take care of, but this was much more than that, not to mention the one easy target was already dead. 

X-Taemin wasn't the end of it, of course. Everyone knew he was sent by SM, and Joshua didn't have a clue as to what SM had up their sleeve for the future, as to why they were sending out clones. Independent clones, at that.

It'd be different if the person had the ability to clone, then it'd be of their own accord, but Taemin's ability was flight and Joshua wouldn't know why he would have a personal vendetta against the SVT members or Lucas. To be fair, Joshua had no idea what occurred before their escape. Maybe Lucas and Taemin _did_ hate each other, but he hadn't seen a single inkling of murderous intent during the few weeks that Taemin did spend at the SVT base. It didn't make sense. 

None of it did.

So what if he blamed SM? That's what he'd been doing all this time anyway, though Joshua did question how much of the blame could be placed upon himself.

Seungcheol had told him in the past to let up on himself, that it wasn't his fault that they were hiding away. Joshua supposed Seungcheol was right…to an extent. The bombing accident had tarnished not only his but Mingyu's reputation as well since they debuted together. He didn't think he caused the earthquake, but for all knew, maybe he did. Abilities could go haywire at any given time, maybe he had tricked himself into thinking he didn't cause it for the sake of his own sanity. Joshua didn't know. 

Even now, Joshua wondered if things would have been different if he were there to help Jihoon and Jun. Joshua knew the stone garden's layout like the back of his hand, he'd built it, after all. He couldn't even be left to ask _why_ Jihoon hadn't woken him up. Joshua knew why. If he were Jihoon, he wouldn't have asked for his help either. They both knew that even with how far he'd come with getting back into using his ability, he wasn't mentally prepared to use it in combat without spiraling. 

But this wasn't about Joshua. 

_Wallowing in self-pity wouldn't do anything,_ Joshua settled.

So instead, he sat next to Seokmin's bed, watching Jihoon's chest lightly rise and fall as he held Seokmin's hand as a source of comfort, or so he hoped.

"Why do you all feel so…" Seokmin trailed off, shifting uncomfortably, "...regretful?"

"Even you, Hongbin. It's not anyone's fault, not here at least," said Seokmin.

Hongbin muttered something under his breath, flicking a vial of emerald liquid and watching as it fizzed. He sighed before continuing. 

"Well, I think I can say that everyone here was terrified seeing as you were on the brink of death until about ten minutes ago and of course, it would have been awfully nice if the situation was prevented from happening in the _first place_ ," said Hongbin, shooting a glare at Lucas. 

Ten's eyes narrowed and he hopped off of his spot on the bed, landing with no more than a light tap. Panicked, Lucas went to grab Ten's hand to stop him but Ten pulled it away and remained firmly in his spot. 

"You weren't even here, why are you blaming him?" Ten questioned.

"Neither were you and did he not _just_ say that he was the reason Seokmin left?" Hongbin sneered. 

"Wait, Hongbin, it's really not his fault. X-Taemin was already in the area for some reason, we were just at the wrong place at the wrong time," said Seokmin.

Hongbin sighed, but he unclenched his jaw and his expression marginally softened when he partially turned his head to respond. 

"Alright, but that doesn't explain why X-Taemin was here, to begin with. For all we know, SM might have planted trackers in them or something. I don't know. There's no reason for them to check the forest otherwise," Hongbin said.

"If we had trackers, the VIXX base would have been attacked as well, and as we saw, it hasn't been," Ten countered.

"It hasn't _yet_. We don't know what SM is planning, and he should not have been outside anyway. For fuck's sake, you escaped _two weeks ago!_ " Hongbin set the vial down on a tray with a loud clink. Lucas flinched at the sound, catching Ten’s attention. Ten looked at Lucas, then back at Hongbin with an offended glare.

"What is _with_ you? Ever since we arrived you've had some…” Ten waved a hand around, “ _grudge_ against us. Sorry, but we didn't ask to show up there-"

"And here we are regardless," Hongbin cut in, "The least you could do is follow the rules and I don't know, maybe _avoid_ dragging the people who've been helping you survive into near-death situations." Hongbin cut in. 

Joshua's eyes flickered back and forth between Ten and Hongbin, then to an ashamed Lucas. Stress pooled at the bottom of Joshua's gut, but it wasn't his. With a fraction more of concentration, Joshua felt it radiating from where he held Seokmin's hand.

Enough was enough.

"Alright, guys-"

A loud pop resounded through the room, cutting Joshua off. Lucas flinched once more, covering his ears out of reflex. The faint smell of something smoky wafted past Joshua followed by a small sizzling sound. Joshua’s nose wrinkled as he tried to find the source of the scent. His eyes fell on Jihoon, and on the bed beneath the younger's hand, there was a smudge of black with small wisps of smoke lining it. Jihoon's fingers twitched as they crackled with electricity, seemingly grasping for something. 

"Jihoon?" Joshua whispered.

Jihoon remained unresponsive, his fingers still shaking lightly as the electricity snaked up to his wrists. The sparks lingered around the ring on Jihoon's pinky before moving on to his palm. Joshua unwound his hand from Seokmin's, gently placing the other's hand on the bed before rising to his feet and stepping around the bed. Joshua approached Jihoon's side and his brows furrowed as he observed the other. Jihoon's breathing had picked up and Joshua could spot sweat beading at his temple. Before Joshua realized what he was doing, he reached out, extending his hand towards Jihoon's.

"Joshua, what are you doing?" Hongbin hissed. 

Joshua shivered as a sliver of electricity reached out and bounced along his pinky, its touch as light as a feather as it attached itself to his ring. 

"It's okay," said Joshua.

Seokmin looked between Joshua and frowned.

"I don't think that's a good idea, it might be too much. There's a lot going on with his emotions right now," said Seokmin, wincing as he moved his shoulder too much for comfort. Joshua lightly shook his head.

"It won't hurt me. _He_ won't hurt me," Joshua assured, his voice breathy.

It might have been more to convince himself, Joshua wasn't sure. He wasn't scared, not of Jihoon, that was for sure, and he _was_ immune to electricity. 

Joshua slightly cocked his head to the side. 

"Immune" was an overstatement, that was for sure, but he knew that one of the side effects of his ability was resistance to electricity at the least. After weeks of Joshua practically pleading to Jihoon, the latter had finally agreed to help Joshua test it out, albeit on an _extremely_ small scale. Jihoon had only sparked him at first, just a small prick, and then administered a little bit more after that, seeing what Joshua could and couldn't handle. Jihoon had refused to go past a certain level in fear that he'd accidentally hurt him, but Joshua left the session unharmed and with the knowledge that his body acted as an insulator, but if Joshua was being honest he had no idea how much he could take since Jihoon had hardly used any of his power at the time.

With a sharp inhale, Joshua took hold of Jihoon's hand.

The electricity crackled beneath Joshua’s hand, though it felt like no more than a few pinpricks. After a few seconds, it fizzled out and Joshua became aware of the tense silence in the room. Joshua debated pulling his hand away since Jihoon was seemingly more calm - or at least calm enough for his ability not to act up. Plus, Joshua couldn’t tell if the sweat was due to nervousness or Jihoon’s fever spiking again and if it was the latter, Joshua either needed to retrieve Seungcheol or at least find some ice water to dip a rag in.

Just as Joshua moved to pull his hand away, everything seemed to move simultaneously twice as fast and in slow motion. Seokmin had started to warn Joshua of something but stopped as the light intensified. Everything was blurry for a moment, then Joshua’s vision cleared. It took him about half a second to realize he had been blown back, and an ache was present where his hip had collided with the metal of the bed behind him. It took another second to realize that the lights had all gone out, leaving Jihoon as the only light source. Electricity shrouded his body and encapsulated the entire bed, shooting out thin tendrils here and there. Joshua briefly turned around and exchanged a glance with Hongbin before they both pushed Seokmin’s bed back and away from Jihoon. Joshua looked over his shoulder to see that Kai and Lucas had backed into one corner while Ten was in another, squinting as he tried to see past the light. 

Joshua could hardly see the outline of Jihoon’s body but he inched towards his bed, using his arm to partially shield his eyes from the light. A bony hand clamped around Joshua’s wrist and pulled his arm back.

“Don’t get any closer, it’s not safe!” Hongbin tried to pull at Joshua’s wrist once more.

Joshua glanced past Hongbin and met eyes with Seokmin, whose hands were clenched around his forearms. Joshua couldn’t tell if his vision was still affected by the light but if he wasn’t mistaken, Seokmin was lightly trembling. 

“Get Seokmin away from Jihoon, don’t touch him though,” said Joshua, turning his attention away from Hongbin and back onto Jihoon. 

Joshua heard Hongbin call his name but ignored it in favor of charging forward and planting both of his hands on Jihoon’s shoulders. A mistake, Joshua realized as soon as he’d gotten to the side of the bed, but it was too late and he was tired of standing by. 

_After not being able to help them with X-Taemin, this was the least he could do, right?_

Thinking about who he was doing it for had helped him jump into action, but nothing could have prepared him for the literal shock of touching Jihoon. Joshua was sure that had it not been for his resistance to electricity, he would have died instantly. His muscles locked up, cementing his arms in their spot. The electricity stopped where his hands touched Jihoon, eventually dwindling to smaller sparks, but the rest of his body remained as bright as it was previously. With the short distance, Joshua could see that Jihoon’s eyes were wide open, but his irises weren’t visible due to the intense glow of his eyes. Joshua felt heat on his sides but didn’t focus on it much, instead trying to look Jihoon in the eye, though it was hard to tell where the latter was looking if he was even conscious.

“Jihoon? Can you hear me?” Joshua asked.

Jihoon blinked and didn’t respond for a moment, but the twitching of his limbs had lessened.

“Joshua?” Jihoon finally replied though it was strained.

Jihoon gasped and his face scrunched up in pain as the light started to dim and the electricity began to return to his body. Joshua winced as another shock hit him, leaving an unpleasant tingling in his arms. The heat had gotten worse and spread to his upper back, but he didn’t dare take his eyes off of Jihoon.

“Yes, this is Joshua. Focus on my voice, alright? Can you do that for me?” Joshua requested.

The pain was getting worse, and it was getting increasingly more difficult not to focus on, but with the nod that Jihoon gave, Joshua couldn’t bring himself to back out of it.

“Okay, good,” said Joshua through grit teeth.

Jihoon’s brows furrowed, and the sparks began to return, catching onto Joshua’s ring. 

“What’s wrong? What’s going on?” Jihoon asked.

Jihoon’s eyes were still unfocused and shining, but his hands patted around aimlessly until they settled on Joshua’s wrists. He froze in his spot, then sharply inhaled and Joshua felt a soft pull at his wrists that was probably intended to be rougher.

“Joshua, get away from me,” Jihoon heaved.

Joshua didn’t need any time to find his response, a simple “No” would be a clear answer, but he struggled to form the syllable as the burning had cut deeper and deeper into his skin. He suppressed the pained groan that threatened to escape him and applied more pressure to his hands as if it’d help. Jihoon released a heavy, yet short exhale and tried again to pull Joshua away, but his grip remained weak.

“I said get away from-”

Jihoon was cut off by his own yell, followed by a surge of electricity that sent Joshua flying backward until he collided with something. Whatever it was, it wasn’t the ground as Joshua’s body fell and hit the floor. He let out a pained cry as he did so, and rolled over, clutching at his sides. A second, lighter thud was audible, and the shocked sound indicated that Joshua had knocked into Minghao, but Joshua couldn’t apologize in his current state. 

Everything _burned_.

More in his sides and shoulders than anything else, but his limbs twitched as any electricity that managed to enter his body left. Joshua curled into a ball in a futile attempt to keep himself from hitting anyone or anyone else. He managed to open his eyes, though things were blurry due to their wateriness. 

Hongbin held something- 

Joshua squinted.

Hongbin held a dart gun in his hand, and it was pointed vaguely in Jihoon’s direction, Joshua couldn’t tell where due to his position on the floor as well as the lights flickering on and off. Hongbin inched closer, only to leap back, narrowly avoiding a spray of electricity. He tsked and aimed the gun, shooting almost instantly after aiming. Joshua recoiled, rolling to his other side. He instantly regretted it as the heat flared in his left shoulder. A carton of tools fell over on the other side of the room, the metal clattering against the floor, and Joshua could hear the cabinet doors vibrating in place, some of them opening just to slam shut.

Joshua knew it was his doing, but he couldn’t stop it. His muscles continued twitching by themselves, betraying his wishes, and all he could do was sit there. He couldn’t see Lucas from where he was but Joshua knew it definitely wasn’t helping his case either, though the concern only lasted a brief second as the tormenting burn simmered on his skin.

Just as it was becoming too much, a sudden wave of cold air washed over Joshua and the pain subsided enough for him to catch his breath. He was too worn out to move even if he wanted to, so he just laid there and through his heavy breathing, managed to get out one word.

“Seungcheol?”

Joshua cursed his voice for breaking, just noticing how raw his throat felt. The cold spread across his body further as Seungcheol’s frantic footsteps got closer. Joshua forced his eyes open again and saw Seungcheol drop to his knees, crouching down to cup Joshua’s face in his chilly palms. 

“I’m here, I'm here,” said Seungcheol, lightly rubbing Joshua’s cheekbones with his thumbs, “Are you hurt anywhere else? Are you okay to sit up?”

_Anywhere else?_

Joshua knew some of the electricity had passed through him, but Seungcheol phrased it like he had external injuries. It didn’t make sense, Joshua didn’t usually get electrical burns, so he’d assumed that the heat was from his ability kicking in, but that was a different kind of burn, anyway. It was closer to how one felt in hot weather or when one is feverish, not like this. 

“Joshua?”

_Right. He’d been asked a question._

Joshua wasn’t sure what happened to him, but he didn’t feel the ache of a fracture or a concussion, though the lights _did_ seem a bit brighter than usual, and being upright would certainly be better than laying on the cold concrete floor. Seungcheol carefully brushed Joshua’s hair out of his face, checking his head for injuries.

“Yeah,” Joshua said, forcing his clenched jaw to relax, “Yeah, I think I can sit up.”

With the aid of Seungcheol’s carefully placed hands that somehow avoided the spots that caused Joshua the most pain, Joshua was able to raise himself to a seated position. He finally looked down at himself and spotted the black, flaky outlines of the holes in his shirt that weren’t there prior. Joshua caught sight of the skin revealed through the holes of the fabric and winced. He didn’t notice that his clothes had caught fire, but Joshua supposed that his rolling around helped to suffocate some of the flames and prevent any of the burns from passing second degree, which he was thankful for, though that didn’t lessen the pain. 

Once Seungcheol was sure that Joshua was able to sit up by himself, he coated his hands in frost and brought them back to hover over the more intense burns. He kept his hands a considerable distance away, just close enough to soothe the burns but not to cause further damage. Seungcheol then raised his head and scanned the room. He had a general gist of what may have happened based on the scorched medical bed Jihoon laid in, the empty dart gun in Hongbin’s hand, and the Super M members huddled in one corner while Minghao was bringing Seokmin down from a panic attack in the other, but he needed things to be clear.

“What happened?” Seungcheol asked.

The question was general, but mainly aimed at Hongbin as he appeared to be the most stable at the time. Hongbin lowered the gun to his side and brought a hand to his face with a sound that was half a sigh and half a fatigued groan.

“Jihoon lost control of his ability,” said Hongbin, straightening a stool that had been knocked over so he could settle on it. He buried his face in his hands and released another sigh.

“He woke up?” Seungcheol asked.

“No,” Hongbin dragged his hands down from his face and gestured vaguely towards Jihoon with the hand that held the dart gun, “He was out but I guess something triggered it. A nightmare, maybe, I don’t know.”

“That was triggered by a nightmare?” came Ten’s voice. The question sounded genuine, and more out of disbelief than anything, but Hongbin rose to his feet nonetheless and cut in before Seungcheol could say a word.

“I can’t fucking- can you three leave?” Hongbin dropped the gun on a bloodied towel and kneeled to grab something.

“Hongbin, that’s a little…” Joshua trailed off.

Hongbin paused his rummaging and Seungcheol could practically hear the sigh he held back.

“Not _permanently_ , I mean leave the room,” Hongbin continued placing things into a crate, “It’s too crowded in here. I can’t focus and Seokmin doesn’t need the extra stimulation. It should be quieter in the back anyway.”

Neither of the Super M members responded, but they exchanged a glance with each other, silently communicating before they all began to head towards the door. Lucas exited first, and Ten followed, but not without shooting a glare at Hongbin. 

“Kai,” said Hongbin, right as Kai stepped past the doorway.

Kai looked down to see the crate of supplies that Hongbin held out for him to take. Slightly confused, he took the crate and looked at Hongbin, waiting for him to continue.

“For Lucas. If you find Seungkwan he’ll know what to do. Let Wonwoo know what happened so he can send an update to the VIXX base…” Hongbin diverted his gaze, “Please.”

Kai blinked, then shook himself out of his daze and nodded, stepping through the door with the crate and heading down the hall. Hongbin waited for his footsteps to fade out of earshot before turning back around and approaching Jihoon. He carefully removed the needle from Jihoon’s thigh and discarded it into the waste bin before checking Jihoon’s pulse. 

Somewhat relieved, he removed his fingers from Jihoon’s wrist and throat and observed the rest of his body. There weren’t any apparent burns, and the only thing that was affected was his clothing since a portion of his sweatpants had burned away, now cutting off right below his knees. His shirt had been reduced to a hole filled mess of stringy fabric, but none of the skin beneath was harmed except for the cuts received during his fight with X-Taemin.

“Are _you_ okay?” Seungcheol asked, taking in the way Hongbin’s shoulders slumped when he kneeled on Joshua’s other side.

“Just tired,” Hongbin replied.

All bite had left his voice, so Seungcheol took his word for it, despite his suspicions that something else was off. 

Hongbin did a quick once-over of Joshua’s body, taking in his injuries before shuffling over to one of the cabinets and gathering materials. On his way there, he glanced at Seokmin and Minghao, who were both sitting on the floor on the other side of the bed that Seokmin previously sat on.

Seokmin had calmed down considerably, or so Hongbin assumed, it was hard to tell with their position. Seokmin’s face was buried in Minghao’s chest with his hands clutching the material of Minghao’s sweater. Minghao had one hand stroking Seokmin’s hair and the other resting on his back. He was whispering something to Seokmin and lightly rocking them back and forth, but Hongbin couldn’t hear and he didn’t bother trying to.

It was none of his business.

Hongbin was worried about Seokmin, of course, but he didn’t want to crowd him and if whatever Minghao was doing worked then Hongbin would let them be and check in later to make sure in the process of moving, Seokmin didn’t reopen any wounds. 

With that decided, Hongbin grabbed the box of bandages that he’d brought with him, a clean rag from the cabinet, and a jar of ointment as well as a pair of gloves. He frowned as he closed the cabinet doors, noting how low the SVT base was on supplies. At some point, he would need to go into the city and get more, but the idea wasn’t too pleasant, especially now with clones running around and whatnot. 

Perhaps he and Hakyeon would be able to go.

Neither of them registered to any of SM’s programs, and while that meant they weren’t the most powerful in the Oasis, they would be able to walk around without being suspected. Plus, Hakyeon could defend himself a decent amount anyway. He wouldn’t say it to his face, but Hongbin admired Hakyeon for that amongst a long list of other things. Part of Hongbin wished Hakyeon was there with him. Hongbin had his fair share of patching people up over the years, he knew what he was doing, but sometimes he found Hakyeon’s presence in itself calming. 

Hongbin rested his head on the cold doors and held his breath before quietly exhaling, willing his heartbeat to stop racing. He didn’t have time to keep dwelling on how irresponsible he felt relative to people that weren’t present when someone needed his assistance, so he readjusted the supplies in his hold and brought them to the sink where he could rinse Joshua’s burns.

“Are you able to stand?” Hongbin asked, setting the supplies down to the best of his ability on the sink’s rim.

“Yeah, I think so,” said Joshua.

Joshua took hold of the hand that Seungcheol offered and shakily rose to his feet. Seungcheol immediately brought his hands to support Joshua’s frame when he stumbled, but luckily he managed to regain his footing for long enough to be brought to the sink. Joshua supported his weight on the edge of the sink with his left arm since it wasn’t as severely burned. His breathing was still shaky, so Seungcheol was quick to grab a stool for Joshua to sit on. Once he was sure that Joshua wouldn’t tip over, Seungcheol backed away to let Hongbin work and settled for crouching a few feet away from Seokmin and Minghao. 

Having sensed Seungcheol’s presence, Seokmin hesitantly raised his head to look at Seungcheol. His eyes were puffy and red, and Seungcheol’s heart crumbled instantly. It took everything in Seungcheol not to inch forward and bring Seokmin into a hug. He wished he could, but he didn’t trust his emotions not to bubble over and flood into Seokmin, so he stayed where he was.

“How are you feeling, Seokmin?” Seungcheol softly asked. 

Seokmin sniffed and carefully shifted in Minghao’s embrace so that he could face Seungcheol without aggravating his injuries.

“Um…” Seokmin sniffed again and raised a hand to roughly rub the tears off of his face, but Minghao grabbed Seokmin’s wrist and lowered it, using his sleeve to gently dab away the tears instead. Seokmin didn’t seem to feel like raising his head all the way so he pressed a light kiss to Minghao’s clavicle to show his gratitude then rested his head against Minghao’s shoulder.

“Not too great, honestly, but I’m better than I was about…”

Another sniff.

“Half an hour ago, or however long it’s been. I was overwhelmed but I’m... I’m doing better, I think.” Seokmin slowly blinked and looked past Seungcheol. 

“I’m sorry, Joshua,” said Seokmin. 

Confused, Seungcheol turned to look at Joshua, anticipating his reply. 

“Why are you apologizing? I brought this onto myself,” said Joshua.

Joshua’s attempt at a reassuring grin disappeared as he moved his arm so the water could run over a different burn and he let out a quiet hiss. Seokmin flinched back ever so slightly as Joshua did so.

“Yeah but...that hurts a lot, doesn’t it?” Seokmin quietly asked.

“Could be worse,” said Joshua with a tilt of his head, “These should be healed in a couple of weeks...if there’s anyone to worry about it's Jihoon.” Joshua jerked a little and gripped the edge of the sink as the water ran over a particularly sensitive spot. Hongbin mumbled an apology and eyed Jihoon.

“He’ll be alright, most likely. I’m guessing he won’t be able to use his ability for a while though,” Hongbin said. 

“Hopefully he won’t need to anytime soon.” Seungcheol frowned and turned to look at Jihoon. 

“Yeah…” said Hongbin, “Hopefully he doesn’t.”

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Taemin was confident, but he knew full well that he wasn't always the best prepared for certain situations. 

He had no idea how he got past SM's auditions the first time around. His fighting ability was decent but nothing to gawk at.

He also wasn't expecting to have escaped SM successfully _and_ reunite with Hakyeon...though a bitter taste still lingered from the conversation they had just hours prior. Taemin tried to understand why Hakyeon acted as he did, hell, the logical side of Taemin _knew_ why everyone was hesitant when it came to the idea of telling Jooheon who Taemin was, but that didn't mean he wasn't still upset. Even now, just looking at where Jeonghan sat made Taemin's blood boil. 

Taemin figured it was time he tried following Jaehwan's example of simply accepting things as they were, which he thought he was prepared to do, but no amount of attempted acceptance and positive affirmations could have prepared him for the news Kai brought back that morning. Taemin was expecting something major from the start, seeing as Kai had clammy hands and couldn't maintain eye contact with Taemin for long ever since he teleported into the living room. 

Of all things though, Taemin wasn't sure that he was expecting to hear that a clone of himself had attempted to murder multiple people, one of which being _Lucas_. Taemin could hardly imagine how scared the boy was - Taemin, the _real_ Taemin would never lay a hand on the Super M members, maybe a playful slap on the arm or the occasional sparring match, but even then he always pulled his punches. 

Taemin didn't know how to react.

And so he didn't. Not for a while.

He kept his gaze focused on a leg of the coffee table, trying to keep the intrusive thoughts at bay.

The leg looked somewhat wobbly. He'd have to tell Ravi about it later. Not that it'd break easily, only under the weight of a person or a heavy vase but there was no reason anyone would sit there except for Jaehwan, maybe. If someone of his or Lucas's size were to sit on it, the leg would surely give out. Any objects that rested on the table would slide off and pile up into a sad heap. Given that they were standing, the person would fall forward and unless they caught themselves on the couch, they would trip forward and hit their head on the bookshelf. 

That'd be a concussion, or worse.

But it didn't matter, really. 

A useless, disturbing thought.

Not like Taemin's other thoughts were any better. He much preferred staring at the wobbly coffee table leg than acknowledging the eyes he felt glued to him. That wobbly leg was inanimate, free of thought, and unable to have any opinion about him. The clone obviously failed in its attempts but Taemin doubted that Lucas would be able to see him the same way for some time.

Taemin backtracked. 

There were eyes on him. He didn't say anything, so maybe he'd been asked a question. Or perhaps there had been a statement he missed that caused the silence. Worst case scenario, he was thinking aloud. Taemin supposed he might as well ask since they were waiting for _something_.

"What?" Taemin asked, raising his head.

It was Jeonghan who spoke first. _Great._

"I asked if you were feeling okay. You seem a little...spaced out," said Jeonghan. 

There was an air of caution in his tone - like he was talking to a cornered animal. Taemin wasn't sure how he felt about that tone. Maybe it was his sleep deprivation talking, but it felt condescending. 

"I'm processing things. I'm sure that if you found out there was a clone of yourself out for blood you'd need time to process things." The words nearly blurred together with the speed at which Taemin spoke.

"I was just checking...I'm sorry if I-" Jeonghan began. 

" _Now_ you're checking in with me about things?" Taemin interrupted, leaning forward from his seat. Jeonghan opened his mouth to respond then promptly closed it, breaking eye contact with Taemin. 

Taemin nodded to himself and lightly scoffed. It was almost more frustrating knowing that Jeonghan was well aware of what he'd done. Taemin couldn't care less at the moment if Jeonghan felt guilty, he knew it wasn't right to compare pain but he considered making this the exception. 

He had to deal with years of praying that Jooheon could hold on long enough. 

Years of waiting to debut.

Waiting for the day he'd make it big enough to cover Jooheon's medicine and if he was lucky enough, find someone to bribe that could nullify his ability. 

Taemin was relieved that they'd found a way to help Jooheon, it didn't matter whether he or someone else was the one to heal him, but after everything he'd been through, the _least_ he would have appreciated was to be filled in. Twelve people resided at the SVT base and not a single one of them told him. 

"Taemin, that's enough," came Hakyeon's voice from the other couch. 

"Oh," Taemin bitterly laughed, "Have I struck a chord?" 

Silence was strung through the air as Taemin leaned back in his seat, maintaining the glare that was pointed at Hakyeon.

"Not necessarily, but there's a larger issue at hand that we need to focus on," Taekwoon said.

"Okay, then what's the plan?" Jaehwan asked, cutting in before Taemin could say anything. Jaehwan's leg was still bouncing as it had been for the last minute or so, and Taemin wondered if he was simply impatient or trying to steer the conversation away from the current topic. 

In Taemin’s peripheral vision, Mark's posture slightly relaxed after Jaehwan spoke, though not by much. Taeyong was sitting next to him, holding Mark's hand as a form of comfort for both of them. 

"That's what we're here to figure out," Taekwoon rebutted.

"If we’re all finally done being petty, then let’s start, shall we? Super M is debuting tomorrow and by now, SM definitely knows that there are people in the Eastern Forest seeing as X-Taemin didn’t return," said Sanghyuk from the corner he stood in, “So we should probably send a few more people over there to make up for those currently out of commission.”

Taemin bit back a comment at Sanghyuk’s use of the word “petty” for the sake of letting them proceed with planning, but he’d be damned if he didn’t make a note to bring it up at a later time.

“I agree. I can stay here since the lake is nearby, and Sanghyuk can go to the SVT base for the sake of convenience,” Soonyoung said.

“Got it,” Sanghyuk said.

“Okay, good, before we move on though, Kai, was there any clue you guys found as to how X-Taemin was so close to the base in the first place?” Jaehwan questioned.

Kai brought a hand to his chin, then shook his head. 

“No, not yet. Hansol is inspecting the remains as we speak but we aren’t sure if he was patrolling or if there was some sort of- ah, Hongbin suspected that we might have trackers but I don’t recall ever being injected with one…” said Kai. 

“I mean...if we were, then SM could have made it so we wouldn’t remember. The training process _was_ a blur once it got to the higher levels…” Mark trailed off, though his voice was quiet to begin with, as if he were scared of being correct.

With his free hand, Mark took to holding Taemin’s sleeve, uncomfortable with the attention that had been drawn to him. Taemin let him do so as he thought of a way around the theory.

“But the VIXX base hasn’t been attacked, not yet, at least,” Taemin stated.

“Yeah, that’s what Ten said.” Kai tapped his chin.

“And that’s a big _yet_ ,” Jaehwan added as he jumped to his feet, “We should definitely be on the lookout, Ravi,” Jaehwan spun to face Ravi, “Have you picked anything up on the sensors recently? Anything out of the ordinary?” 

“No, as odd as it is, drones haven’t been coming around as much,” Ravi replied.

“Odd indeed,” said Jaehwan. There was something in his tone that Taemin couldn’t pinpoint, but Jaehwan moved on before Taemin could focus on it for too long,

“So instead of drones…they send clones. I guess that makes sense,” said Jaehwan.

“Why’s that?” Ravi prompted.

“Well, what can drones do? Shoot lasers? A hunk of floating metal doesn’t have anything on people like us. Hell, I don’t even need my ability to take one down, you throw one rock with enough force and decent aim, and the whole thing just-” Jaehwan dragged a thumb across his throat and made a sound akin to metal crumpling. Taemin was mildly impressed by how close it sounded to the actual sound but forced himself back to reality before his mind branched off to a series of pointless subjects again.

“Now _clones_ , as we can all obviously see, can cause much more damage, and that was just one, there are six others out there right now,” said Jaehwan.

“That is true, at this rate, they might not even need to recruit new trainees for a while. People get tired, but if you have multiple clones, you can be easily replaced at any moment,” Jeonghan added.

“Exactly,” said Jaehwan, stretching the ‘eh’ sound.

Jaehwan plopped down on the couch and a brief silence overtook the room again, but there was less tension as everyone was simply lost within their own thoughts. Jeonghan absentmindedly ran his thumb over the ring on his pinky finger, abruptly stopping when he spoke.

“I know the idea wasn’t received well last night, but I still want to go investigate in the city,” Jeonghan admitted.

“I don’t know, that’s...very risky,” Ravi said.

“As I said, everything we do is dangerous,” said Jeonghan.

“Still, we shouldn’t rush into anything.” Ravi awkwardly adjusted his collar.

“ _Rush_? Ravi, they’re debuting _tomorrow_ , we don’t have any more time to wait,” said Sanghyuk.

“It’s not like you could go with him,” said Ravi.

“I never said I was planning to,” Hyuk squinted and a wrinkle became visible in his forehead, he looked Ravi up and down then frowned, “What’s your deal?”

“What?” Ravi uttered, sounding more flustered than offended.

“If you’re gonna combat an idea then at least follow up with something of use,” Taekwoon muttered, following it up with a light sigh.

Taemin raised a brow at that, but he supposed Taekwoon was right. He glanced at Mark and Taeyong, checking to see if they had anything to say. Mark returned the eye contact, then looked at Taeyong, then back to Taemin. Taeyong’s grip on Mark’s hand was tighter, but he remained silent with his head turned away from both of them. Taemin tried following his eyes, but it didn’t seem like Taeyong was looking at anything in particular, just generally away from everyone else, much like Taemin used to suddenly find the waxing on Kibum’s floor interesting whenever he and Minho, one of their contacts, would argue in front of Taemin.

“If you really want to go, Jeonghan, then I’ll come with you,” said Hakyeon.

Taemin’s head snapped towards Hakyeon and his mouth gaped before he was finally able to form words. 

“Shouldn’t someone else go with you two?” Taemin asked.

“I don’t know if anyone else can. Jeonghan can mask himself and to my knowledge, I'm not on SM’s watchlist, so we’d be able to walk around freely,” Hakyeon explained, “I don’t want to endanger anyone here any further.”

“But putting yourself in harm’s way is fine?” Taemin rebutted.

“It’ll be alright. Kibum can meet us at the train station once we get there and we’ve gone to the city in the past to get supplies,” said Jeonghan.

“Fine…” Taemin conceded.

He wasn’t fine with it, not one bit - but he honestly wanted nothing more than to shut off his brain and exit the conversation as soon as he could.

“Are you sure one of us shouldn’t trail a bit behind just in case?” Sanghyuk suggested.

“Yes,” Jeonghan and Hakyeon said in unison. 

Jeonghan looked at Hakyeon and made a small hand gesture to indicate that he would let Hakyeon speak first.

“Thank you for the concern, but we’ll be okay.” Hakyeon sent Sanghyuk a small grin but all Sanghyuk offered for a response was a roll of his eye.

“Alright, so Sanghyuk is going to the SVT base, Soonyoung is staying here, and you two are leaving...when?” Jaehwan asked.

“Tonight?” Hakyeon proposed, checking Jeonghan’s reaction.

“Tonight.” Jeonghan nodded.

“Tonight,” Jaehwan repeated then turned to Mark, Taemin, and Taeyong, “Are you three cool with staying here, or would any of you rather go back? If Kai can handle another big trip, that is.”

“I’m...definitely fine with staying here for now. I don’t think seeing me would help anyone’s case,” Taemin deadpanned.

“Right...” Jaehwan grimaced and nodded.

“It’s probably crowded enough as is and I still can’t use my ability so…” Taeyong began to trail off before appearing to catch his train of thought with a nod, “Yeah... I’ll stay here.”

“Uh, I'll stay too, I guess,” Mark said, his gaze lingering on Taeyong before he looked at Jaehwan.

“Then we’re set...I think,” said Jaehwan, looking around the room. 

Hakyeon agreed with a quiet hum, then rose to his feet, brushing non-existent dust from his palms. He stepped away from the couch so he could see everyone in the room and deeply inhaled before speaking.

“Right then, let’s get to it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Joshua: *catches on fire*  
> Also Joshua: "Could be worse :)"
> 
> If it was unclear, Joshua's ability was originally to manipulate metal, and as a loophole, he learned how to manipulate earth by focusing on the metals in soil and stone. Along with that, a sort of side effect that came with it was his resistance to electricity, but that'll be explained later. Anyway, THIS CHAPTER SUCKED AWAY MY SOUL. It's almost 7k...ugh. Apologies for any errors, this is not beta-read and eventually seven thousand words worth of people arguing starts to blend together y'know? 
> 
> Oh well...I tried, I really did :')


	25. Rigid

“All done,” said Soonyoung.

He adjusted the hair tie at the end of Jeonghan’s hair which he’d spent the last ten minutes weaving into a single braid that ended just below Jeonghan’s shoulder blades. It was a comforting activity for both of them and it turned out decent, to Soonyoung’s surprise. Jeonghan stood up from the stool he sat on and turned his back to the kitchen’s island so he could face Soonyoung. He reached back and brought the braid over his shoulder, looking down at it to observe the detail.

“You’ve been getting better, thanks,” said Jeonghan.

“I bet Shua or Mingyu could gave made it neater, but thank you,” Soonyoung replied, scratching the back of his head. 

“Ai…” Jeonghan lightly slapped Soonyoung’s arm, “It looks good.”

Soonyoung chuckled and gave Jeonghan a solid pat on the shoulder. His eyes flickered behind Jeonghan and spotted Hakyeon whispering something to Taekwoon while sending an occasional glance to the living room where Taemin, Jaehwan, Mark, and Taeyong were gathered. He caught Soonyoung’s gaze and flashed a grin at him before continuing his conversation with Taekwoon. Soonyoung turned his head to see those in the living room and the first to catch his attention was Taemin. 

Taeyong and Mark were attentive but clearly anxious as they listened to Jaehwan rattle off the list of precautions they’d take after everyone left, but Taemin was unnaturally stiff. His fists were clenched in his lap, and occasionally he’d adjust them, cracking his knuckles before settling again. Otherwise, he remained completely still, staring at the coffee table instead of Jaehwan though his head was tilted ever so slightly towards the kitchen, as though he were trying to listen in on the conversation between Hakyeon and Taekwoon.

“Is something wrong?” Jeonghan asked.

“No…” Soonyoung reluctantly turned back to Jeonghan, then glanced at Hakyeon, “Just...be safe, okay? Both of you.”

“We’ll be alright-”

“Jeonghan.”

Soonyoung cut him off then looked at Jeonghan expectantly. Jeonghan lightly huffed before sweeping Soonyoung’s bangs to the side so he could look him in the eye, then let his hand rest on the back of Soonyoung’s neck.

“We’ll be safe,” said Jeonghan.

Jeonghan pulled Soonyoung in by the neck and engulfed him in a hug, lightly swaying them back and forth. Soonyoung sighed and allowed himself to melt into Jeonghan’s arms, returning the tight embrace with his chin propped on Jeonghan’s shoulder. He relished in the moment, trying to block out everything that wasn’t the feeling of Jeonghan’s arms around him, but there was an itch at the back of his mind, scratching and crawling its way into the forefront of his thoughts.

Soonyoung knew Jeonghan and Hakyeon would be fine, or so he liked to tell himself. They were both capable of defending themselves but so were the SVT unit members and yet…

“Jeonghan.” Soonyoung opened his eyes but didn’t pull away from the hug.

“Yes?” came Jeonghan’s voice, light and patient.

The blonde sighed but separated from Jeonghan, taking hold of his hand instead.

“I want you to promise me that the  _ instant _ something goes wrong, you’ll contact us. I don’t care if you or Hakyeon think it’s nothing big, please...let us know,” said Soonyoung.

“Okay, I will,” Jeonghan replied.

“Do you promise?” 

Jeonghan sighed and met Soonyoung’s eyes, nearly crumbling right then and there upon seeing the expectant, almost pained look Soonyoung was giving him. He then adjusted their hands so their pinky fingers were interlocked, then pressed his thumb to Soonyoung’s.

“I promise,” said Jeonghan.

Soonyoung returned the grin Jeonghan gave him and pressed his thumb back, sealing the promise. He would have gone for another hug but was interrupted by an arm getting slung over his shoulder. 

“You all set?” Jaehwan asked.

“Yeah,” Jeonghan picked up the bag that was slumped against the stool and slung it over his shoulders, “It's a shame we’re leaving so soon but we'll be back in no time.”

“You’d better be, I know Soonyoung probably told you to be careful, but still, keep each other safe and update us. You too, Soonyoung. If things go south, we’re standing by,” said Jaehwan. He patted Soonyoung on the back then let his arm fall to his side.

“Definitely. Same for you, I hope that nothing happens but as things have been recently...you never know,” said Soonyoung with a mild grimace. 

“Yeah...thank god Taeyong isn’t possessed anymore, I really don’t think I’m in the mood to go through that again,” Jaehwan muttered.

“Possessed?” Jeonghan repeated, raising a brow.

“Hakyeon didn’t tell you? Ah, well, he wasn’t  _ actually _ possessed, it was something SM injected him with. Made him lose it and he strangled Hongbin a little, and yeah...” Jaehwan waved a hand around.

Soonyoung’s jaw had dropped at some point and he didn’t notice until he tried to speak. He swallowed before trying again to form a coherent word.

“ _Him?_ ” Soonyoung asked, still in disbelief. 

Soonyoung looked at Taeyong, who was currently watching Mark intently as he spoke. His sad, doe eyes shined as he nodded along to something Mark said. The boy had hardly spoken since he, Seungcheol, Jeonghan, Kai, and Taemin arrived at the base and seemed generally timid, so it was honestly hard for Soonyoung to believe that someone like  _ Taeyong  _ would try to kill anyone. Jaehwan  _ did _ imply he wasn’t in control, but Soonyoung still struggled to envision it.

“I know, right? After spending some time with him, he’s actually harmless...though he doesn’t talk to me much.” Jaehwan snapped his fingers, but nobody in the room reacted.

“Only you two can hear me now, so let’s get down to business: Taemin’s situation,” said Jaehwan, crossing his arms.

“Which one?” Jeonghan leaned back against the island.

“Not the clone, though I do have theories about that...anyway, why didn’t any of you tell him about Jooheon?” Jaehwan questioned.

“He wasn’t...I thought Seungcheol told him.” Soonyoung’s eyes widened as he shot a look at Jeonghan.

Jeonghan shook his head and pursed his lips, glancing at Taemin. 

“Wasn’t sure if he could handle it,” said Jeonghan.

“Well yeah, but dude...not even a warning? He’d be pissed either way so wouldn’t it be better to tell him  _ before _ you guys got to the MX base? Plus, what if he unintentionally ended up letting Jooheon know? He’s been on edge for hours, and now Hakyeon’s leaving so he’s gonna be stewing in it until he inevitably snaps, which honestly I wouldn’t blame him for, I just don’t want to be at the receiving end of it,” Jaehwan lowered his voice to a whisper-shout despite the sound barrier.

“We need to apologize,” said Soonyoung, wincing at the truth in Jaehwan’s words.

“Hakyeon tried, it didn’t really work,” said Jaehwan with a grimace.

“Oh.”

Soonyoung shifted his weight and brought a hand to his chin. The mention of Hakyeon had been the only thing that got Taemin to start talking to them in the first place, so if he wasn’t forgiving  _ Hakyeon _ , of all people, then a simple apology wouldn’t work. Soonyoung checked the clock in the living room and silently cursed. They’d have to leave soon, but he didn’t want to leave Taemin as he was.

“We’ll deal with it when we get back,” Jeonghan decided after a pause.

“It’s only going to get worse,” Soonyoung countered.

“I know, but right now the SVT base needs protection and the press conference is tomorrow so we have to go  _ now _ ,” Jeonghan reasoned. 

Soonyoung frowned and stared at Jeonghan, silently urging him to change his mind. They remained like that for a moment, unmoving, until Soonyoung spotted someone in his peripheral vision rise from their seat in the living room and approach the trio. He broke eye contact with Jeonghan in time to see Jaehwan discreetly snap his fingers at his side, breaking the barrier just as Taeyong reached them.

“Sorry, I hope I’m not interrupting anything…” Taeyong said.

“You’re good, what’s up?” Jaehwan grinned and shifted so he was facing Taeyong.

“Ah…” Taeyong swallowed then looked at Soonyoung, “I just wanted to ask you guys not to be harsh with Lucas. I know that ever since we’ve arrived, a lot of things have been going wrong, so I apologize, but...Lucas didn’t wish to bring anyone harm. Most people have to put focus into  _ using _ their ability but Lucas has to focus in order to keep his at bay, so it becomes overwhelming at times,” said Taeyong. 

"No worries, we won't be harsh. He's got enough to deal with already, you all do," Soonyoung assured. 

Soonyoung really did feel bad for the him. Lucas spent most of his time trying to stay out of everyone's way in Soonyoung's experience and it was true that passive abilities could become overwhelming, he'd seen it with Seokmin - but Soonyoung also knew that not all of the SVT unit members, or those at the VIXX base for that matter, would be as forgiving. 

Luckily, Soonyoung's assurance seemed to be enough for Taeyong as he muttered a "thank you" then backed away from the trio. Taeyong appeared to have picked up on Taemin's behavior as well based on the way he proceeded to sit on the floor so he could see Taemin's face from where his head was angled downward. Taeyong asked him a question that Soonyoung couldn't hear, and Taemin responded with a light shake of the head followed by a quick, most likely dismissive response. Taeyong frowned, unsatisfied with Taemin's answer, but Taemin inched over in his seat regardless, leaving space for Taeyong to sit. Taeyong took it but didn't speak another word in favor of taking one of Taemin's fists and carefully unballing it finger by finger before moving on to the next one and doing the same thing. Taemin didn't look away from the coffee table, but he didn't stop Taeyong either, letting the boy interlock their fingers. 

That was good, or so Soonyoung hoped. Taemin wasn't upset enough to turn Taeyong away but then again, Taeyong wasn't the one who withheld crucial information from Taemin until it was too late.

Soonyoung sighed and looked away, searching the room for Kai and Sanghyuk. Just as the thought of the two came to him, Soonyoung spotted them walking down the stairs. Kai split off at the bottom of the staircase to speak to the SuperM members while Sanghyuk briskly headed toward Jaehwan, Soonyoung, and Jeonghan.

"Thanks for the serum, we were running low. There's some materials in Kai's bag to take over to Seungkwan and Hansol, if you're running low on anything else that we missed, Kibum probably has it," Sanghyuk said.

"Thank you, and yeah, we're gonna bring some supplies back for the MX base as well while we're at it," said Jeonghan. 

"Cool," Sanghyuk looked at Soonyoung, "You ready?" 

Soonyoung nodded and adjusted the bag on his shoulders. With another look into the living room, Soonyoung saw Kai lightly ruffle Mark’s hair before stepping around the couch and walking up to the group by the island.

"We'll leave first, then," said Soonyoung.

"Hakyeon, we're heading out," Sanghyuk stated, loudly enough for Hakyeon to hear. 

Hakyeon backed away from Taekwoon and nodded, giving Soonyoung, Sanghyuk, and Kai a brief once-over.

"Alright, be careful. We'll see you soon," said Hakyeon as he rounded the island to give each of them a hug, squeezing Sanghyuk a little too tight based on the quiet grunt of discomfort Soonyoung heard from him. 

Hakyeon let go and backed away, letting Sanghyuk and Soonyoung each place a hand on Kai's shoulders. With a nod from Soonyoung, the air warped, and the three of them were gone. 

Hakyeon turned his attention to Taemin to see that the latter hadn’t even looked up at the disappearance of the three. Had it not been for the thumb that Taemin was absentmindedly running over Taeyong’s knuckles, Hakyeon would have assumed Taemin was ignoring him as well. 

When it came down to it, Hakyeon didn’t blame him. He knew that it wasn’t the best move not telling Taemin about Jooheon as soon as possible, then at least he would be able to act accordingly. Taemin would probably still be frustrated with that part of their past being hidden from Jooheon, but it wouldn’t be as bad as the current situation. 

Well, this time it wasn’t necessarily Hakyeon’s fault, he wasn’t at the SVT base when Taemin arrived so-

_ No, bad.  _

_ Shifting the blame is bad.  _

Hakyeon tsked at himself, offended by his own thought process. 

There was no reason to point fingers. What's done was done and when it came down to it, they were all at fault to a degree...but despite Taemin’s reaction, Hakyeon didn’t find himself regretting the decision, not fully, at least. There was a definite tinge of it for sure, but they’d barely gotten Jooheon stabilized the first time and if he were to relapse, that would be it. 

He’d rather have Jooheon alive with Taemin temporarily upset rather than the other option which would leave not only himself but Taemin devastated.

Hakyeon blinked, bringing himself back to reality. He sharply inhaled upon realizing that he’d been staring at Taemin, and Mark definitely noticed based on the way his eyes flitted between the two. Hakyeon shoved the thoughts into the back of his mind and added them to the list of things to deal with later then plastered a grin on his face as he always did. 

_ Fake it until you make it. _

Hakyeon cleared his throat and walked into the living room, easing to a stop once he was standing on the side of Taemin that wasn’t occupied by Taeyong. Taeyong raised his head at Hakyeon’s presence, but as expected, Taemin didn’t.

“We’re leaving now. If you need anything, text us,” Hakyeon squatted so he could see Taemin’s face, “Taekwoon and Jaehwan will be here, they’ll explain what to do in case there are intruders.”

Taeyong nodded, then looked at Taemin, waiting for a response. Hakyeon placed a hesitant hand on Taemin’s knee and held back a frown as Taemin tensed. 

“We’ll be back in a few days,” Hakyeon removed his hand from Taemin’s knee and felt his heart deflate as Taemin turned his head away from him. 

Without another word, Hakyeon rose to his feet and forced himself to rip his eyes away from Taemin in fear that his calm exterior would be broken by the lump forming in his throat. It was only when Hakyeon was back in the kitchen that he finally dared to speak.

“Let’s go.”

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Sanghyuk didn't imagine teleporting would feel  _ good _ , per se, but he hadn't expected to be as disoriented as he was. It felt like his entire body expanded, as though he were bloated, and his vision was filled with colorful static before everything condensed at once and he landed, solid and heavy on his feet in the SVT base medical office. Once his vision cleared and the nausea passed, all he could do was stare. Based on the lack of movement from next to him, or rather the lack of sound since Soonyoung was on his blind side, Sanghyuk guessed that he was in a similar state of shock.

The medical office was...a  _ mess _ to say the least. Not like it was a beauty to look at in the first place, it was an abandoned bunker before Seungcheol found it, after all, but it was a  _ wreck _ . 

A faint smoky smell caused Sanghyuk's nose to wrinkle as he looked around. It appeared as though someone had tried to clean it up a bit but it hadn't made a difference. One of the beds was scorched black and could hardly be considered a bed with how much of it had fallen apart. The source of the smell, Sanghyuk figured. There were black smudges on the wall as well as rust-colored stains on the concrete floor that Sanghyuk knew for a fact were patches of dried blood. The beds, shelves, and cabinets were all in the right place but slightly crooked, and Sanghyuk could spot bloodied bandages and wraps in the waste bin. The light above the scorched bed flickered on and off in no apparent pattern, buzzing violently every few seconds before it finally blew out, leaving the other two working strip lights to illuminate the room. 

"Damn," Sanghyuk raised his brows and took a step forward.

Soonyoung didn't speak, instead, he headed straight for the hallway. Kai followed suit and so did Sanghyuk, but not before spotting the yellow dart that had been discarded into the waste bin by the door.

The halls were empty and silent aside from the sound of metal scraping concrete. Soonyoung froze for a moment, his shoulders tensing before glancing at Sanghyuk and cautiously rounding the corner.  Soonyoung released a light sigh and some of the tension left his muscles. Sanghyuk furrowed his brows and sped up his pace so he could see where the sound was coming from. At the sight, he nearly sighed as well.

Hongbin hadn't addressed their presence, he remained crouched in the middle of the hall, scraping something off the wall and into a bag. Soonyoung stopped walking once he was a couple of meters from Hongbin while Kai hurriedly passed by them both, heading in the direction of Hansol's office, if Sanghyuk recalled directly. Sanghyuk went to the other side of Hongbin and squatted, only for the latter to remain focused on his current task. 

Had the situation been different, Sanghyuk would have teased Hongbin about his mismatched attire, as he wore a pastel blue face mask with cleaning gloves that were the ugliest, muddiest shade of yellow that Sanghyuk had seen, but he refrained. 

"Why are you scraping the wall?" Sanghyuk asked.

"Mold," Hongbin deadpanned. 

There wasn't much mold on the wall, not enough for Hongbin to be using as much force as he was, but Sanghyuk merely nodded.

"Where is everyone? The medical office was empty," Soonyoung said.

"Minghao, Wonwoo, Seokmin, Seungkwan, and Jun are in the Blue Room. Joshua and Seungcheol are in their room. The SuperM members are asleep in the common area. Jihoon and Mingyu are in the kitchen. Hansol is in his office,” Hongbin reported, not taking his eyes off the wall. 

“Jihoon’s awake?” Soonyoung asked.

“Yeah, he woke up not too long ago,” Hongbin stuck the mold scraper into the bag and wiped it using the plastic, then extracted it and went back to scraping along the edge of the area he’d been working on before.

Soonyoung muttered some form of gratitude before spinning on his heel and taking wide strides down the hall and disappearing around another corner. Sanghyuk watched as he left, but stayed in his spot. Once Soonyoung was out of sight, Sanghyuk turned his attention to the stiff movements of Hongbin’s hands as the older scraped away the mold in straight lines that were nearly perfect. 

_ That wasn’t any good. _

While cleaning was a hobby of Hongbin’s, Sanghyuk could tell the difference between the cleaning Hongbin did for “fun” - whatever his definition of fun was... and Hongbin’s tendency to stress-clean. 

When Hongbin was casually cleaning, he’d be quick yet thorough with whatever the task was, getting the job done before a song on one of Taekwoon’s vinyls would finish playing. This was different. Back when Sanghyuk lost his eye, or even after the incident with Taeyong, Hongbin would spend more time on simple tasks and get less done. The intention  _ was _ to clean, but the focus wasn’t there, it was an outlet, something to focus on until he would be forced to think about the issue at hand. 

And at the moment, Hongbin had been scraping over the same, mostly clean spot he’d been scraping over for the past thirty seconds with no sign of moving away from it. He was definitely spaced out, otherwise, he’d be on a different spot.

“You doing okay?” Sanghyuk finally asked.

Hongbin’s movements halted and the mold scraper skidded to a stop with an unpleasant scratching noise. Hongbin blinked, still staring at the wall.

“That’s a loaded question,” said Hongbin.

“Not really-”

“It is.”

The scraping resumed. 

“Could be better, could be worse,” Hongbin stated.

“I think that goes for everyone,” said Sanghyuk.

  
  


“Yeah,” Hongbin sighed, “but I mean, half of the base is out of commission, Seungkwan, Hansol, and I have been up all night and we still haven’t made any sense of the clone’s material, SM basically knows where we are, and there’s all of this fucking mold growing on the wall even though its  _ concrete _ and there shouldn’t be this much humidity down here in the first place-”

Hongbin made a move to throw the mold scraper to the ground, but caught himself at the last moment and instead shoved it inside of the bag despite the mold that was piled inside with it. He practically ripped off his gloves and mask and tossed them to the side.

“So yeah, could be better, could be worse,” Hongbin finally broke his gaze away from the wall, “ Where’s Jeonghan? Did he not come with you?”

Hongbin’s fingers fumbled as he struggled to tie off the bag. Hyuk watched him, somewhat amused until he remembered the question he had to answer. He geared himself up with a deep inhale, preparing for Hongbin’s reasonably unpleasant reaction that was sure to follow.

“No…he stayed behind because he and Hakyeon are going into the city,” Hyuk sighed.

“What?!” Hongbin exclaimed.

Hyuk grimaced as it echoed throughout the hall and made a gesture with his hand to signal to Hongbin to lower the volume of his voice. 

“Why?” Hongbin snapped, though quieter this time.

“To catch the Super M press conference and for supplies,” said Sanghyuk.

“We could literally just broadcast it here, why go in person? Especially  _ now _ of all times,” Hongbin countered.

“That still leaves the supplies. Hakyeon knows what he’s doing, he’ll be fine. They both will,” said Sanghyuk.

Tired of watching Hongbin’s fumbling, Sanghyuk took the bag from him and tied it in a matter of seconds. Hongbin raised a hand to his temple and rubbed circles into it. He closed his eyes and lightly sighed before opening them again.

“I know, I know. I trust Hakyeon and if this is what he thinks is the best course of action then that’s  _ fine _ , I’m just…” Hongbin trailed off. His hand dropped from his temple and flopped at his side as he released another light sigh.

“You’re worried about him,” Sanghyuk stated after a few seconds of silence.

“Yeah,” Hongbin muttered. 

“Me too,” Sanghyuk switched the bag to his other hand, “but as you said, we’ll just have to trust him.”

“I guess,” Hongbin mumbled. 

Before the silence could stretch for too long, Hongbin reached forward and took the bag from Sanghyuk, tugging at the knot to make sure it was secure.

“I’m going to go check on Hansol,” said Hongbin.

Before Sanghyuk had time to respond, Hongbin had already left, ending the conversation. Sanghyuk pressed his lips together and shook his head. He’d have to check in again with Hongbin later, though Sanghyuk had an inkling that the conversation would still result in Hongbin insisting that he’s fine or simply concerned about the others. As for now, Sanghyuk would figure out why his fingers were itchy and tingling.

Sanghyuk looked down at his hands and nearly gagged. There was a translucent dark brown liquid dripping down his fingers and based on the trail of droplets that led to Hansol’s office, it had been leaking from the bag of mold. Sanghyuk scrunched his nose as his hands hovered in the air. He didn’t want to rub his hands on his clothes but he didn’t have a handkerchief on him either, so with a disgusted groan, he held his hands away from his body and looked around, unsure of which direction the bathroom would be in. 

Just as he began walking towards Hansol’s office to ask, a crashing sound in the distance caused Sanghyuk to jump. He didn’t have the layout of the base memorized, but seeing as the noise came from the direction that Soonyoung had just gone, Sanghyuk could guess that it came from the kitchen.

_ Great. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took so long! It's finals season so i've been super busy and haven't had much time to write. One more week though and I'll be done for the semester :D


	26. Omission

Jihoon didn’t awake with a start. 

There was no sudden sitting up and leaping out of bed. No deep gasping for air. 

He simply opened his eyes and awoke from his dreamless sleep.

The first thing he noticed was that he was in his bed instead of the medical office and that there was an unfamiliar weight on his body. Jihoon raised his head to see that it had been Mingyu’s thick blanket that had been draped over him atop his own blankets. The movement made him aware of the throbbing headache that didn’t feel as though it’d go away any time soon. A part of him wished to pull the blankets back up to his chin and stay in bed for a while longer, but the desire to soothe the scratchy, rough feeling in his throat was enough to get Jihoon moving.

Jihoon painstakingly sat up and dragged his legs over the side of the bed, wincing as his muscles burned in protest. He shivered at the loss of warmth as he stood and debated bringing Mingyu’s blanket with him, but he decided against it and instead shuffled toward the door. Jihoon immediately became aware of how his limbs felt like they were tied down to cinderblocks and took twice the effort to move to his will. 

He brought a shaky hand to the doorknob then with little hesitation, pulled the door open and immediately regretted it. The bright lights of the hallway caused spots to form in his vision and the pounding in his skull intensified. He cowered behind the door and rested his head against it until the spots cleared. With a sigh, Jihoon opened his eyes and tried again, opening the door inch by inch until his eyes could adjust. He took a cautious step into the hall and looked around, careful not to move his head too quickly. 

It was quieter than usual. 

There were no footsteps, no distant chatter, no sounds of training either.

Jihoon figured that everyone might have just been asleep. That was the thing about the bunker, had it not been for their phones, courtesy to Hyunwoo, it was easy to lose track of time. Jihoon shivered again, partially due to the chilliness in the air as well as the unsettling silence. He took a last glance into his and Mingyu’s room and frowned. Mingyu’s bed was empty so that either meant he was up extra late or had gotten up earlier than everyone else, which wasn’t unusual for him, but it still left Jihoon hoping that he’d been resting enough.

Jihoon finally dragged his foot in front of the other and forced himself to repeat the action despite the soreness. He continued at a snail-like pace, having to stop and lean against the wall more than once, to his frustration. Jihoon balled his hand into a fist and pushed himself off the wall, only to stumble and fall onto the opposite wall with a grunt. His shoulder ached with the impact, but he forced himself to move forward and staggered down the hall.

After what felt like an eternity, Jihoon turned the corner and spotted the opening into the kitchen at the end of the hall. He heard the faint sound of a lid being placed onto a pot followed by the sink’s faucet running. Jihoon pushed himself ahead, widening his steps by a fraction, desperate to sit down.

As expected, it was Mingyu who was busying himself with cutting vegetables. A large metal pot sat on the stove, presumably filled with chicken soup if the smell were anything to go by. Mingyu still hadn’t noticed Jihoon’s presence, so as not to startle him while he was holding a knife, Jihoon took a few steps back before walking forward once more, purposely making his footsteps louder at the expense of his sore calves. Mingyu ceased his chopping and cast a glance over his shoulder. Just as his eyes returned to the cutting board, he took a double-take, staring at Jihoon as though he had two heads.

“Jihoon-” Mingyu immediately set his knife down, “What are you doing up?”

“I could ask you the same thing.” Jihoon winced at the roughness of his voice.

“Water?” Mingyu asked.

Jihoon nodded in order not to strain his throat but regretted the action instantly as his headache swelled. Once it subsided to the point of his brain not feeling like it was going to leak from his ears, Jihoon started to shuffle forward, but Mingyu was a step ahead, moving between Jihoon and the cabinet.

“I can get it, take a seat,” said Mingyu, nodding toward the stool next to the counter. 

Jihoon would have made a rebuttal along the lines of being able to get it himself, but the stool was looking awfully comfortable at the moment so he stifled it and wobbled to the stool, willing himself not to plop down on it as the action would aggravate his muscles at best and be excruciating at worst. 

Without having to look, Jihoon could feel Mingyu’s eyes watching his each and every movement. Once Jihoon had carefully lowered himself onto the stool, he looked up and sure enough, Mingyu was still watching him with attentive eyes. Jihoon uncomfortably shifted, waiting to see if Mingyu would speak, but after a few more seconds, Mingyu tore his gaze away from Jihoon and opened the cabinet. He retrieved a glass then turned on the sink tap, letting the water run for a few seconds before placing the glass beneath it. 

Mingyu turned off the tap once the glass was just over half full and approached Jihoon, kneeling a bit to hold the glass out to him. Jihoon brought a hand up to take the glass, cursing his shaky fingers. There was no doubt that Mingyu had noticed based on the way he kept his hand at the bottom of the glass, waiting for Jihoon to have a solid grip on it. Jihoon curled his fingers around the glass and tried to take it from Mingyu, but the glass felt heavier than usual.

Jihoon finally managed to squeeze his hand around the glass, but the cup violently shook in his grasp and he nearly dropped it had it not been for Mingyu’s quick reflexes. Mingyu caught the glass right as it slipped from Jihoon’s grip and luckily the water didn’t slosh over the rim. Jihoon closed his eyes and shakily exhaled, trying to calm himself down. 

_ It was a glass of water, for fuck’s sake. It shouldn’t be that hard. _

A small hum from Mingyu prompted Jihoon to open his eyes.

Mingyu held the glass a bit away from Jihoon’s face, but the offer was clear. On any other occasion, Jihoon would have rejected it but seeing as his body wouldn’t cooperate and raising his hand was exhausting in itself, he balled his hand in a loose fist and let it fall into his lap in defeat. Mingyu brought the glass to Jihoon’s lips and tilted it, holding his other hand below Jihoon’s chin in case the water spilled. Jihoon let out a content hum as the cool liquid soothed the roughness in his throat and weakly raised his fist to nudge the glass higher. Mingyu intercepted it and gently guided Jihoon’s hand back to his lap. 

Once Jihoon had drank it all, Mingyu pulled back and with a raised brow, gestured to the sink with the glass. Jihoon made a vague noise of refusal and with that, Mingyu placed the glass on the counter next to Jihoon. He then knelt back down and placed a hand over Jihoon’s thigh, but quickly removed it as Jihoon flinched. 

Jihoon hadn’t meant to. He had no reason to think Mingyu would ever harm him.  It was the other way around if anything-

“You should eat something,” said Mingyu.

He didn’t seem offended by Jihoon’s flinch, instead, he gave Jihoon a rather long once-over before standing up and turning back to the cutting board. 

“I’m not hungry,” Jihoon mumbled, resting his head against the edge of the counter.

“You haven’t eaten in over 12 hours, it’s not a choice.” 

Mingyu took the lid off the pot and placed it aside, then picked up the cutting board and used the knife to sweep the vegetables into the broth. Jihoon groaned at the idea of eating anything, he wasn’t necessarily nauseous but he felt bloated and overheated. Mingyu frowned and placed the cutting board and knife in the sink. He ran his fingers through Jihoon’s hair, pushing the sweaty strands away from his forehead.

“Just a little bit, alright? It’ll help you feel better,” Mingyu said. 

Jihoon leaned into his touch, indulging in the distraction, but the memories of the prior night were all too fresh in his mind. He needed to see if Seokmin and Jun were alright, if  _ Joshua _ was alright. He couldn’t remember the later parts of the night clearly, just that he lost control at some point and Joshua was there, unless he wasn’t. It might’ve been a hallucination, for all Jihoon knew, but if it wasn’t, then there was no way that Joshua could have handled that much electricity, resistance or not.

If Joshua were injured, or worse, had been electrocuted to death, it was Jihoon’s fault. A small inkling of logic told him that Joshua was fine, someone would have told him, Mingyu wouldn’t be casually making soup if that happened. 

But that still left Seokmin and Jun.

Jihoon wasn’t quick enough to get to Seokmin before X-Taemin inflicted as much damage as he-  _ it _ did.

Jihoon was the one who woke Jun up to go with him, and now Jihoon had no idea what state he was in. He should have been strong enough to protect them by himself, but he wasn’t, he-

A feather-light touch beneath Jihoon’s cheekbone brought him out of his thoughts. Mingyu’s figure was slightly blurry, and it wasn’t until Jihoon blinked that he realized why. Mingyu brought his other hand up to wipe away the stray tears that rolled down Jihoon’s cheeks. 

“What’s wrong?” Mingyu quietly asked. 

“It’s my fault…” Jihoon whispered.

“What?” Mingyu asked, more to his own confusion.

Jihoon shook his head and released a shaky sigh that turned into a groan as his head throbbed. Mingyu shushed him and continued to delicately comb Jihoon’s hair away from his face. He heard light footsteps coming down the hall before pausing and fading away. Mingyu didn’t look away to see who it was, but he mentally thanked them. Mingyu knew Jihoon hated people seeing him cry, it was probably difficult enough with Mingyu in the room. 

“Let’s get you back to bed, can you walk?” Mingyu asked after Jihoon calmed down, unless he was simply too tired to cry anymore. He would have to wake up Jihoon again at some point to eat, but in the meantime, Jihoon could definitely use more sleep. 

“I don’t know. Are they okay? Shua...and Seokmin...and Jun?” Jihoon asked.

“Ten and Hongbin came to help so Seokmin is stable. Jun strained his ability a bit but he’ll be alright with some rest,” said Mingyu. 

“And Joshua?” Jihoon pushed.

“He has a few burns but he’s okay. He’s asleep right now,” said Mingyu. 

At that moment, hurried footsteps came into earshot, but they didn’t stop this time. Jihoon looked over Mingyu’s shoulder and stiffened, staring at whoever was now standing in the doorway. From where Mingyu’s hands now rested against the sides of Jihoon’s neck, he could feel the latter’s pulse quicken. Mingyu hesitantly turned his head and from the corner of his eye, he spotted Soonyoung.

Soonyoung remained frozen in the doorway for a moment, looking between Mingyu and Jihoon. Soonyoung moved so he could properly see Jihoon, and after getting a clear view of his flushed and tear-streaked face, began to walk towards him. Jihoon clutched Mingyu’s sleeves just as Soonyoung kneeled a few feet away from the two, holding on even as Mingyu lowered his arms to Jihoon’s lap. Jihoon avoided Soonyoung’s gaze, looking at the floor instead.

“How are you feeling?” Soonyoung asked with an air of caution. 

Jihoon nervously swallowed and cleared his throat, not daring to look at Soonyoung. He lightly inhaled, debating between telling the truth and disappointing Soonyoung or lying and getting the same result, inevitably. Jihoon knew he should have at least tried to answer, and an honest answer would be the best option, but this wasn’t about  _ him. _

“Have you been eating?” Soonyoung asked after a pause. 

“I will later, I think I just need to sleep a bit more,” said Jihoon.

Before Mingyu could stop him, Jihoon stood up at an alarming speed, only to grunt and tip to the side, catching himself on the counter with his forearm. The impact drew another hiss from Jihoon, and he brought his other hand down to stabilize himself, but accidentally knocked the empty glass over. It fell onto its side and rolled along the counter toward the sink. 

Jihoon moved to catch it, but his entire body swayed, following the path of his hand, before his eyes rolled back. The sound of glass shattering was the last thing he heard before he went limp. 

  
  
  


He wasn’t out for long, or at least Jihoon didn’t think so. He couldn’t tell for a moment, but when he came to, there were two pairs of hands on him. In his hair, patting his face, on his shoulders-

_ Jihoon still couldn’t see past the light, but he felt the feeling return to his hands and used them to grasp for Joshua, only to find that the older’s hands, or so he assumed, were already planted on his shoulders. It grounded Jihoon for a brief moment before all of his senses came crashing down on him and he felt the sheer amount of electricity coursing through him and now Joshua. _

“Get away from me!”

Jihoon tried to push away from Mingyu and Soonyoung, but his vision blurred and filled with static. He didn’t have much space to move and even if he could, there was no force behind his attempts to shove them away. He felt the familiar feeling of electricity pooling in his core, but instead of spreading to his limbs, it shrank back into a tight ball and vanished along with the remaining strength in Jihoon’s legs. 

After a fresh burst of pain, Jihoon noticed that he’d been lifted from the ground with an arm supporting his back and the other beneath his knees. It felt as though his right side were being shoved into the side of a heated radiator, it was too hot and he needed to get  _ away _ but the shift in position had made his swimming vision more distorted and he couldn’t properly hear whoever was talking due to the outside world sounding like it had been submerged in water.

Just as Jihoon thought it couldn’t get any worse, there must have been another change of his position because for a brief second he saw nothing but white and his muscles strained, but the electricity was stifled and wouldn’t leave his body. As he came down, the heat from before was gone, and he’d noticed that whoever was holding him was moving, though he couldn’t tell how fast or slow. 

Just that they were moving. 

_ He hadn’t electrocuted them, unless he did, but they were still walking, so that was impossible, right? _

Then again, Joshua had absorbed it and he wasn’t as harmed as Jihoon thought.

But that was Joshua. He had resistance to electricity. Nobody else in the base did, and Joshua couldn’t be carrying him now, so it had to be Mingyu or Soonyoung unless someone else walked in. Either way, he had to get far away from whoever it was before it was too late. He felt different though, beneath the pain, he definitely felt that his electricity wasn’t passing through his body as it usually would. It was stifled. His ability wasn’t working. That was good - unless it wasn’t. 

What good was he if he didn’t have his ability?

“Breathe with me, Jihoon,” came Soonyoung’s voice.

Jihoon could hear - that was an improvement _ ,  _ but was he not breathing?

Jihoon’s heartbeat pounded in his ears, and it was then he realized it wasn’t his lack of breathing, no, he was breathing too heavily. He was hyperventilating. 

His vision was still filled with static, but Jihoon felt Soonyoung’s hand take his own. Soonyoung pushed Jihoon’s open palm against his chest, Jihoon assumed, based on the heartbeat he felt beneath his fingertips. Soonyoung took a deep breath in, and Jihoon tried to do the same, though it was shaky and cut short by a cough that rattled his brain. 

Soonyoung repeated the action after exhaling, giving small whispers of encouragement to Jihoon, and this time Jihoon managed to take a deep breath that was still unstable, but better than the one prior. Jihoon didn’t know how long it took to finally slow his breathing to a somewhat normal level with Soonyoung’s guidance, but his vision began to clear and his muscles calmed so he only felt the soreness he experienced after waking up. 

He didn’t feel great - but it was a hell of a lot better than being carried.

Jihoon was back on his bed, and Soonyoung hovered over him with one hand over the one Jihoon had on his chest and the other holding himself up on the mattress. 

“Hey,” Soonyoung whispered.

A soft grin graced Soonyoung’s features when Jihoon finally looked at him, and Jihoon found himself stumbling over his words again.

“I’m…” Jihoon trailed off.

Soonyoung patiently waited for Jihoon to finish, rubbing a thumb over the back of Jihoon’s knuckles.

“I’m sorry.”

Soonyoung’s smile fell and his hand went still for a moment. His brows were knit together in confusion.

“You have nothing to apologize for,” said Soonyoung.

“I do,” Jihoon’s face scrunched as his head throbbed, “There’s  _ this _ and then Seokmin-”

“Had it not been for your interference, Seokmin would be in a much worse state than he’s in now,” Soonyoung tightened his grip on Jihoon’s hand, “You saved their lives.”

“We still don’t know how X-Taemin found us, he may be gone but the others may come,” Jihoon said.

“Sanghyuk is here to help protect the base. What  _ you _ need to focus on is getting enough rest.” Soonyoung carefully lowered Jihoon’s hand onto the mattress.

At that moment, Seungcheol entered the room. He didn’t bother masking his worry and immediately came to sit on the side of Jihoon’s mattress. He laid a hand on Jihoon’s thigh, and Jihoon sighed at the relief the cold brought but snapped himself out of the daze he was slipping into and opened his mouth to speak.

“The more you rest now, the quicker you’ll get your ability back,” Soonyoung said before Jihoon could get another word out.

“You should get some more sleep, we’ll wake you up when dinner is ready,” Seungcheol added. 

His tone was soft, but not condescending. He continued to lightly massage Jihoon’s thigh before moving to his calf. Jihoon closed his eyes and suppressed a sigh. Soonyoung grinned, but based on the way his body stiffened, Jihoon could tell he was holding back tears. He didn’t want to upset Soonyoung any further, he couldn’t handle people crying - much less Soonyoung - so Jihoon shifted so he was comfortable then met Soonyoung’s expectant gaze.

“Okay,” said Jihoon. 

Soonyoung blinked in slight surprise, and tears shined at the rim of Soonyoung’s lower eyelids. Somehow they didn’t fall when Soonyoung forced his grin a fraction wider and lightly stroked Jihoon’s head before straightening up and abruptly leaving the room, bringing the back of his hand to his eyes as he did so. 

“Do you want to be alone?” Seungcheol asked.

“No,” Jihoon immediately responded, too quick for his own liking. He cleared his throat and tried again, “Can you stay?”

Seungcheol smiled and carefully shifted the both of them so his back was against the wall and Jihoon’s legs rested atop his lap.

“Of course I can.”

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Mark had never seen Taemin like this. 

Mildly irritated, yes, they all had their days. It wasn’t surprising when their schedules at SM were packed and unpredictable at times, but  _ this _ was different.

Had it not been for Taemin holding Taeyong’s hand, Mark would have assumed  _ they _ did something wrong. On second thought, they might’ve, but Mark didn’t know what they would have done to cause Taemin to fall silent and sit in the same spot for over an hour now, clenching and unclenching his free hand into a fist. It was a wonder that he wasn’t crushing Taeyong’s hand. Mark had been meaning to ask what was wrong, but frankly, he was intimidated and had tried cleaning up around the living room and kitchen in the meantime, but he’d run out of things to clean and his curiosity was eating away at him.

“Are you...good?” Mark finally asked.

Taemin didn’t respond, and when Mark looked to Taeyong, all he was offered was half of a shrug. So much for trying.

“Okay,” said Mark, stretching out the ‘O’. With a short, quiet whistle and his palms on his knees, Mark pushed himself into a standing position and took Taemin’s following silence as his signal to leave. Mark peered into the hallway and spotted Jaehwan leaning against the wall next to the door of Ravi’s room. His thumb and index finger were pinched, leaving a couple of inches of air between them. He’d occasionally adjust the space and bring it closer to his ear, but after sensing Mark’s presence, Jaehwan splayed his other palm, aiming it in Mark’s direction, but didn’t lose the concentration in his eyes.

“What’s up?” Jaehwan asked.

Mark flinched as instead of Jaehwan’s voice coming from the hall where he stood, it sounded like Jaehwan was in the kitchen. Mark looked between the empty kitchen and Jaehwan before responding, a bit confused as to where he should direct his speaking.

“Uh, I was just gonna ask if you were up for some training,” Mark said.

“Didn’t expect you to ask, give me a second and we can start,” Jaehwan’s lips moved, but the sound still came from the kitchen instead, albeit about a second delayed. His tone was teasing, but his face was straight and focused. He wasn’t even looking at Mark, instead, he eyed Ravi’s door before unpinching his fingers and approaching Mark, his footsteps silent. 

Jaehwan finally looked at Mark and flashed a quick grin as a greeting before opening the cabinet below the sink and rummaging for something. He emerged with a towel-covered box and tucked it under his elbow then closed the cabinet. He bent down next to the door and used his free hand to put on his shoes.

“You coming or what?” Jaehwan asked, his voice actually coming from him this time. 

“Right, yeah, I'm coming,” Mark sputtered, quickly following suit. 

It wasn’t until they were outside and Jaehwan had shut the kitchen door that Mark dared to speak.

“What was that?” Mark whispered. 

Jaehwan snapped his fingers then dropped the box onto the ground. He removed the towel, revealing a sleek, black case. He fiddled with the lock for a second then popped the case open, further revealing an array of silver throwing knives. 

“Don’t worry about it, don’t bring it up to anyone else though. Anyway, what’s up with you wanting a sudden training session, hm?” Jaehwan asked, holding one of the knives at eye level and inspecting it.

“You can never have enough training, you know? Gotta...keep at it,” Mark said, punching the air to emphasize his point. 

“You’re terrible at lying.” Jaehwan took five daggers from the case then closed it.

“I’m not lying,” Mark defended.

He  _ wasn’t _ lying, even though it was an excuse to get out and give Taemin space, Mark knew that he could definitely use some training, especially in their current situation.

“Lie of omission. What’s the other reason you’re out here?” Jaehwan held out one of the knives, pinching the blade with two fingers so the handle was pointed towards Mark.

Mark took the knife and slowly backed up until he was a few meters away from the target - it was just an old wooden cutting board posted to the side of the house, nothing fancy. During one of their first sessions, Mark had asked what happened if he missed and hit the house instead, to which Jaehwan answered with  _ “Fuck around and find out.” _

Needless to say, Mark never missed.

Mark huffed and threw the knife, watching it spin before it hit the board, only slightly off-center. 

“Just giving Taemin with space, he’s not in the best mood,” Mark accepted another knife from Jaehwan, “Can’t blame him though...but it’s weird.”

Jaehwan hummed in approval as the knife struck the board, closer to the center this time. He handed Mark another knife then stepped back.

“How so?” Jaehwan questioned.

“I don’t know...he just-” Mark stopped himself and eyed the window. 

“They can’t hear us, don’t worry,” said Jaehwan. Mark stuck his lips out a bit and squinted, puzzled, but turned his attention back to the board.

“He’s never gotten like this, not in front of us, at least. I can’t tell if he’s stressed because of the clone thing, which is  _ definitely _ understandable, but he even pushed Hakyeon away,” Mark threw the knife and winced as it landed dangerously close to the edge of the board, “I’m still trying to grasp what their relationship is, Hakyeon seemed like he was really looking forward to seeing him again but Taemin didn’t mention him at  _ all _ . I didn’t know Hakyeon existed until we actually like, got here.”

“Yeah...about that...” Jaehwan grimaced and sucked air through his teeth.

“What?” Mark stopped right as he was about to release the fourth knife.

“Did Taemin ever mention a ‘Jooheon’?” Jaehwan asked.

Mark squinted, scrubbing through his memory but coming up short.

“No.” Mark shook his head.

“Oh...that’s rough, I don’t even know if this is for me to tell you,” Jaehwan cocked his head to the side, “Well, uh...here’s the deal.” 

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Minghao watched as Jun tapped the spacebar on the computer, pausing the video that played on the screen. 

SM had released footage of Super M- or whoever they were passing off as Super M - in the Arena a few hours prior. Ever since then, Jun had been taking notes, rewatching the footage, then taking more notes. Wonwoo had tapped out earlier that morning after having stayed up all night to get the system back up and running with added firewalls. As for now, he was slumped over on the small couch in the corner of the room with his arms crossed as he slept. Seokmin was asleep as well, resting his head on Wonwoo’s shoulder while Seungkwan sat on the arm of the couch, absentmindedly swinging a foot back and forth as he watched the screen. His eyes were red and puffy with the lack of sleep, but when Minghao had offered that they go to sleep in their own beds, Seokmin and Seungkwan had refused and it was too late to ask Wonwoo since he’d already dozed off, so Minghao begrudgingly gave up and resorted to shuffling through the old blueprints and rejected plans that were stored in binders on a small shelf to the left of the couch. 

Minghao adjusted the white binder that was in his lap from where he sat on the other arm of the couch. The binder was stuffed full and could hardly close, yet none of the files proved to be of much worth. They were all about shapeshifters and illusionists, but Minghao found that he’d memorized most of it, especially after VIXX’s unfortunate encounter with an Anti, an  _ actual _ Anti. Needless to say, Minghao was tired of the Oasis being labeled as a group of Antis, they would never be  _ that _ violent. If they were just left alone, it wouldn’t be an issue. Nobody would be hurt, but of course, SM would send drones and their heroes after them and they couldn’t do anything about it, the public wouldn’t listen anyway. 

Minghao sighed and shut the binder lightly so as to not wake Wonwoo and Seokmin. Seungkwan startled at the small noise nonetheless but eventually settled back into his semi-blank stare. Minghao bent down to place the binder back on the shelf when he heard a small snap and Jun’s movements ceased. 

Minghao looked up just as Jun dropped his pencil, or what used to be a single pencil, onto the desk. The two pieces rolled a few inches then slowed to a stop. Jun grabbed a pen from the basket of writing utensils and shook it a few times to get the ink flowing before he started the video again, then paused it after another ten seconds. He tapped a key, rewinding the video frame by frame until he was satisfied, then scribbled down something. Minghao frowned and stood from his spot, then quietly walked to Jun’s side, squinting at the notes.

Some of Jun's handwriting was difficult to read since at the moment he appeared to value speed over neatness, but Minghao was able to catch a few snippets such as  _ “Vulnerable Spot?” _ and  _ “Basic misdirection. Watch for eyes.”  _

“I can take over from here, you should get some rest,” Minghao offered.

“I’m good, I slept a few hours, but thank you,” Jun said though he remained staring at the frame on the screen with knit eyebrows.

“A few hours isn’t enough, especially since you weren’t feeling well last night.” Minghao frowned as he looked at the screen, trying to see what Jun was looking at.

The video was paused on a frame of X-Kai; he was in the middle of ducking to avoid a laser beam from the criminal that the simulation generated. 

“I’m fine, Hao. Plus, I think I might’ve found a weakness,” said Jun.

“What is it?” Minghao asked.

“Here.” Jun opened up four images and dragged them next to the video. They were screenshots of the battle, all in which the members were dodging attacks. 

“Turning your back during combat isn’t a good move, obviously, but they’re being extra cautious when it comes to this spot here, see?” Jun tapped the spot just below the base of Minghao’s neck, then circled the cursor around the same spot on the X-Super M members. 

Sure enough, X-Kai was reaching back to cover the back of his neck in the video and X-Baekhyun had done the same in two of the photos while a bright light was emitted from his free hand. The other two photos were more subtle. In the first one, X-Lucas had the shield on his back raised, though it only covered the lower half of his head down to his waist. It appeared as though he were in the middle of taking it off. In the second image, X-Kai’s eyes had a red glint in them, and at the base of his neck, there was something red faintly glowing beneath his clothing. 

“There has to be something there,” said Jun.

Minghao supposed Jun was on to something, but based on the way the latter’s hands were shaking and the light sheen of sweat on his forehead, he  _ really _ needed to sit down.

“I agree...but you should take a break,” Minghao urged. He pulled at Jun’s arm in an attempt to get him away from the desk.

“I just need a little more time,” said Jun, removing Minghao’s hand from his arm but not without giving it a light squeeze. Jun noticed Minghao’s frown and pursed his lips.

“Twenty minutes then I’ll take a break,” Jun proposed.

“Ten.”

“Fifteen?”

“ _ Ten _ ,” Minghao finalized, “I’m going to check in on Hansol, when I get back you’d better be resting.”

“Fine.” Without another word, Jun turned his attention back to the video and pressed play. Minghao sighed and glanced at Seungkwan, who nodded at him at the unspoken request to make sure Jun stuck to the time limit. 

Minghao sent a worried glance in Jun’s direction then turned around and walked out of the room, silently closing the door behind him. Minghao blew out an exhale then swiftly found his way around the halls until he reached Hansol’s office. Minghao entered the room and through one of the shelves that was parallel to the door, he met eyes with Kai.

“You’re back,” said Minghao. 

“Yeah...Sanghyuk came along with us to help protect the base,” Kai replied.

“Ah, okay,” Minghao nodded and walked around the bookshelves until he got to the desk, then proceeded to place a hand on the back of Hansol’s chair, “Have they seen anything out of the ordinary over there?”

“No. No drones, nothing,” Kai said.

“That’s...weird,” said Minghao.

“They said the same thing. I’d get if there were no drones here since SM doesn’t really check the forests but the mountains? Wouldn’t they at least have a few since they’re closer to the city?” said Kai.

“Something’s off...Hansol, what have you got?” Minghao asked.

“Not much,” said Hansol despite the mess of bowls and bags of various sizes littered across his desk, “The remains aren’t flammable, whether it’s dry or liquid.”

Hansol pointed to a bowl of thick, black sludge. 

“The longer it’s exposed to air, the more it congeals and hardens. It feels a little oily and is hard to separate once it cools, but that’s all I've got on that. As for the dagger, there’s no strings or sensors and it’s not magnetic, so telekinesis was definitely involved. Otherwise, it’s just like any other dagger. There’s no poison coating the blade or anything like that,” Hansol explained. 

“Ten might be able to help you with the remains,” Kai suggested.

“Yeah, I was thinking about asking him. It doesn’t help that I’m low on materials” Hansol muttered. 

“Ah, yeah, Jeonghan said to let him know what you need,” Kai shifted uncomfortably, “He and Hakyeon are on their way to the city as we speak.” 

“They’re going into the city? Why?” Minghao asked.

“The press conference and to restock some supplies,” Kai responded.

Minghao froze and stared at Kai in mild disbelief as he tried to process the words. He already knew that some of the other members, namely Seungcheol and Jihoon, wouldn’t like it. In all honesty, Minghao wasn’t exactly fond of the idea either, but at least Hakyeon was going with him. It wasn’t that Jeonghan couldn’t be trusted, Minghao admired Jeonghan for how intelligent he was, but when it came down to it, Jeonghan was human. He wasn’t perfect, and Minghao wouldn’t be surprised if seeing Chan in person caused Jeonghan to act irrationally. For now, he’d have to hope that Hakyeon would be able to reel him in if necessary and until they returned it’d just be a waiting game. 

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Mark’s jaw had dropped at some point during Jaehwan’s explanation.

He didn’t realize it until he felt his throat becoming dry and he subconsciously swallowed as he tried to grasp everything Jaehwan dropped on him. 

“Oh,” Mark winced at his voice cracking then cleared his throat, “That’s actually really...wrong on your guys’ part…”

“Yeah, I know it sounds fucked up-”

“Doesn’t sound like it, it  _ is _ fucked up,” Mark interrupted. 

“ _ I know _ ,” Jaehwan waved his hand around, stopping once he remembered he was still holding a knife, “And Taemin has every right to be upset, but Hakyeon had good intentions. He just didn’t expect that Taemin wouldn’t be told beforehand. As I said, we couldn’t afford for Jooheon to relapse.”

“Has he gotten an apology?” Mark asked.

“Not exactly…” Jaehwan said.

“So...no?” 

“No,” Jaehwan confirmed.

Mark was quiet after that. He fiddled with the knife in his hand as he stared at the ground, shuffling his feet around in the grass. Jaehwan waited, unsure of what Mark would do next. After a minute or so of uncomfortable silence for both parties, Mark switched the knife to his other hand and threw it at the cutting board. 

It landed in a pre-existing dent near the bottom of the board, then slipped out and fell to the ground. Mark cursed under his breath and turned to Jaehwan to take the last knife, but Jaehwan pulled his hand back, holding the knife at shoulder-level, dangerously close to his face.

“What is Taemin’s primary ability?” Jaehwan questioned.

Mark blinked, caught off guard by the sudden question, but answered anyway, “Flight.”

“Are you sure?” Jaehwan asked.

“Yeah,” Mark replied.

Jaehwan tapped his chin with the bottom of the knife in a thinking manner.

“But what if it’s  _ not _ ?” Jaehwan proposed.

“What are you talking about?” Mark asked. 

Mark lowered the hand that was reaching for the knife and shoved it into a pocket instead. A confused frown appeared on Mark’s face as he waited for a half-smug and half-excited looking Jaehwan to explain. Jaehwan raised the throwing knife to his eye level and turned it over, watching as the light glinted over the blade.

“I want to test something out, and you’re gonna help me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year everyone!! Sorry that this one took forever. I'm in the middle of transferring universities and then holiday season had me super busy. I hope you're all doing well!


	27. Inbound

It had been about four hours since Hakyeon and Jeonghan departed and the sun was finally down. At some point, Taeyong had dozed off, and when he awoke, only the kitchen light had been turned on. There were faint sounds of stirring, but it was quiet otherwise. Taeyong yawned and raised his head to rub the sleep from his eyes, then promptly let his head plop back down on Taemin’s shoulder where it had been resting prior. Taeyong heard a light huff and cautiously looked up, hoping that he hadn’t annoyed Taemin. 

Instead, Taemin had the faintest of grins on his face as he looked at Taeyong. It was hardly there, but it was a grin nonetheless, and Taeyong preferred this expression to the hardened one Taemin wore earlier. Taeyong smiled and bumped the top of his head against the underside of Taemin’s chin, earning a light chuckle. Taeyong wrapped his arms around Taemin’s torso and laid there for a moment, slumped against him. 

The following silence was broken by the growling of Taeyong’s stomach. Taeyong wrapped an arm around himself and curled more into Taemin’s side, too comfortable to move. 

“Hungry?” Taemin quietly asked. 

“Mm,” Taeyong rested his head in the crook of Taemin’s neck as the latter ran his fingers through Taeyong’s hair, lightly scratching at his scalp. He felt his eyelids becoming heavier as Taemin moved his hand to massage the back of Taeyong’s neck, “A little.”

“Dinner should be done soon, come on.” 

Taemin took Taeyong’s head in both of his hands, squishing his cheeks in the process, and moved him so he wasn’t completely draped over Taemin. Taeyong groaned in protest, but let Taemin guide him to his feet. They barely made it past the coffee table when the air warped by the stairs and Soonyoung and Kai landed on their feet with a thud. 

Taeyong yelped as Taemin yanked him back and stepped in front of Taeyong, blocking him from sight. Not a second later, Taemin sighed and Taeyong could see his muscles relax as the shock left him. Taemin didn’t turn around, but he murmured an apology and rubbed Taeyong’s wrist with his thumb, then stepped aside. Taeyong flashed Taemin a quick grin to let him know it was fine, then turned his attention to Kai and Soonyoung.

“You’re back? Is everything okay?” Taeyong asked.

“I said I’d stay here to help protect you guys,” said Soonyoung. 

“But what about your base?” Taeyong questioned.

“I went to go check up on them and make sure everything was okay, or as okay as things can be, I guess...” said Soonyoung.

“Was it?”

Soonyoung was the one to flinch this time, whipping his head around to see Jaehwan sitting on the stairs. 

“Sorry,” Jaehwan said dryly, “Is everything okay?”

“Yes,” Soonyoung paused, then inhaled, “No. Seokmin, Joshua, and Lucas are resting, which is good but as for Jihoon and Jun...you know how they are. As for everyone else...some aren’t coping too well.”

“How is Seungcheol? I can’t imagine he was happy to hear that Hakyeon and Jeonghan left.” Jaehwan scowled at the thought.

“He wasn’t,” Soonyoung winced and shook his head, “He had to take some time to himself to cool off.”

“ _ Cool off… _ ” Jaehwan chuckled beneath his breath. Soonyoung stared at him, unamused, and Jaehwan’s smirk disappeared.

“Right,” Jaehwan cleared his throat, “Well, what about you? Did it help to see them?”

Soonyoung opened his mouth to respond then shut it. He glanced at Taeyong and Taemin, then Kai, and finally looked back at Jaehwan. Taeyong averted his eyes and tugged at Taemin’s sleeve in an attempt to usher him to the kitchen. Reluctantly, but to both Taeyong and Soonyoung’s apparent relief, Taemin and Kai followed. 

Still not completely awake, Taeyong struggled a bit to sit on the high stool but managed to settle down on it before Taemin or Kai could offer to help him. In a much less shaky and more elegant manner, Taemin raised himself from the floor and weightlessly descended onto the stool next to Taeyong, crossing his legs as he did so. Kai made his way around the island until he was across from Taemin and Taeyong. Kai scanned the room and with a slight twitch of his brows, he looked at Taeyong.

“Where’s Mark?” Kai asked.

Taeyong shrugged and looked at Taemin. The last Taeyong had seen Mark, he was headed out to train with Jaehwan, and some time after that he’d dozed off, so he couldn’t offer a useful answer, though thinking about it now, he was curious as to where Mark had gone off to as well.

“Ravi’s office,” Taekwoon and Taemin said at the same time.

Taeyong blinked and raised his head. Taekwoon was there in plain sight the entire time, looming over the pan of whatever he was cooking, but he’d been so quiet that Taeyong almost forgot he was there. 

Taekwoon turned around and unaffected by the sharp, unforgiving glare that Taemin had pinned on him, walked to the island holding three plates of stir-fried vegetables and fish. He held two plates in his hands and balanced the third on the underside of his forearm. He slid the plates in front of the three before retrieving silverware for them. He hesitated for a moment when he got to Taemin, leaving his hand on top of the fork and knife handles. Taemin’s eyes narrowed by a fraction more.

“Sorry for interrupting,” said Taekwoon.

“It’s fine.” Taemin snatched the fork and knife from Taekwoon’s grasp. 

Taeyong pursed his lips and used his fork to turn over a piece of broccoli. He took a peek at Kai to see if he was as uncomfortable as Taeyong was. Kai had leaned his head forward ever so slightly, jutting out his jaw a bit as his eyes widened and he sent Taemin a look that was somewhere between expectant and disbelieving. 

“ _ Thanks for the meal, Taekwoon, _ ” said Kai, not breaking his gaze from Taemin.

“Thank you,” Taeyong said, flashing a grin at Taekwoon.

“Mn. Feel free to get seconds,” Taekwoon said.

Taekwoon exited the kitchen, lightly patting Taeyong’s head as he went. Taemin’s nose wrinkled with the action, and he almost immediately moved to smooth down Taeyong’s hair even though the pat wasn’t forceful enough to ruffle it.

“Whenever you two feel like it, dinner is ready,” said Taekwoon to Jaehwan and Soonyoung. 

Soonyoung said something that looked like a ‘thank you’, but no sound came out. He blinked, then with a sheepish smile, gave Taekwoon a thumbs-up. Taekwoon nodded, then turned on his heel and headed down the hall towards Ravi’s studio. Taeyong turned his attention back to his plate and took a bite of the broccoli. He closed his eyes and nearly melted at the taste. 

It was delicious. 

There were plenty of things he didn’t miss from SM, oh there was a  _ list. _

The unforgiving training schedules, the “check-ups” from the company’s doctors, having his ability activated, the initial side effects of receiving it, and the god awful food. It was fine, no, the food was great when he was a Level One trainee, but gradually the food just got  _ worse _ . He wasn’t sure if there was a budget cut, or if it was some odd diet, but he did know that he never wanted to eat another protein bar again - if whatever SM served could even be considered protein bars - the bland, stale things certainly filled Taeyong’s stomach and provided the nutrients necessary for his body, but he definitely missed having actual meals. The situation as a whole was horrible, but if there was one good thing about the last couple of weeks aside from being able to see Taemin and Kai again, it would be Taekwoon's willingness to cook for them.

Taeyong sighed and opened his eyes to see Taemin blankly staring at him. 

“It’s really good,” Taeyong beamed before taking another bite. 

Taemin nodded and grabbed his own fork, using it to transfer more pieces of broccoli to Taeyong’s plate. Taeyong waited until he was finished swallowing to speak.

“Don’t give me too much, you should eat up too,” said Taeyong.

“I have plenty, it’s okay,” Taemin said. 

Taemin shoved a carrot into his mouth to punctuate his point. Taeyong slowly nodded.

“Alright...then thank you,” Taeyong said.

Taemin hummed as a response and continued eating. The silence didn’t last long as Kai lowered his fork with a quiet clink against the plate.

“So what was that?” Kai asked, somewhat hushed.

Taeyong glanced at Kai, but seeing as the question wasn’t directed toward him, he went back to his food. He wasn’t sure why Kai bothered whispering when Jaehwan could still eavesdrop if he really wanted to.

“What are you referring to?” Taemin replied nonchalantly.

“You know what I’m talking about, Taemin. Something is bothering you, what is it?” Kai questioned.

Taeyong stilled for a moment, then forced himself to continue chewing. Kai arriving was a relief. Taemin still had his way of weaving around questions, and aside from Baekhyun, Kai was the only one brave enough to cut straight to the point and leave little room for avoidance. Not that Taeyong feared Taemin, not at all, but more often than not, asking Taemin about his well being would form more distance instead of closing it.

“Nothing that can be helped,” Taemin said.

“Still, you can talk about it if that would help,” Kai offered.

“Thanks, but no,” said Taemin.

“Are you s-” 

“What about ‘no’ do you not understand?” 

Taeyong froze at that and stayed still. He didn’t want to know the expression on either of their faces but he forced himself to look up and intervene before it escalated.

“It’s alright if you don’t want to talk about it, we won't pry...if you ever feel up to it, then we’ll be here to listen,” Taeyong said. He placed a hand on Taemin’s back in an attempt at comfort, but it was shrugged off immediately.

“I am so tired of-” Taemin cut himself off with a huff, presumably to calm himself down, then silently put down his fork, “Nevermind. I think I'll turn in for the night.”

“Taemin-” Kai started.

Taemin floated down to his feet and left the two behind at the island just as the door to Ravi’s office opened. Jaehwan and Soonyoung paused their conversation as Taemin walked past them and headed upstairs. Soonyoung frowned and said something brief that earned a resigned nod from Jaehwan. With a snap of his fingers, Jaehwan rose to his feet from where he sat on the stairs.

“What happened?” Mark asked as he entered the kitchen. 

“I’m not sure, he didn’t seem like he wanted to talk about it,” said Taeyong.

“About what?” Ravi asked.

Taeyong looked past Mark to see Ravi leaning on the counter next to the stove. Before Taeyong could answer, Taekwoon waved his hand to get Ravi’s attention. As soon as Ravi made eye contact with him, Taekwoon’s irises burned a bright gold. A second after, Ravi’s turned the same color before fading back to their usual dark brown. Taekwoon blinked and the gold disappeared, but the stern look he was sending Ravi didn’t. 

“Nevermind.” Ravi rolled his eyes and turned around to open a cabinet.

“You didn’t have to be rude about it though,” Ravi muttered beneath his breath.

Taekwoon calmly tucked his hair behind his ear as he crossed the kitchen to where Ravi stood then promptly smacked the younger in the back of the head. 

“Ow!” Ravi exclaimed. 

He whipped his head around and held a hand up to the spot Taekwoon hit. His mouth gaped, but Taekwoon simply reached past Ravi’s head to grab a stack of plates from the cabinet.

“Oops, your head was in the way,” Taekwoon stated, his voice monotonous.

“Hakyeon leaves for two seconds and this is what we’ve become,” Jaehwan drawled as he sauntered into the kitchen. 

“He acts like this either way,” Ravi grumbled.

“Eh, I guess,” said Jaehwan.

With a fond grin, Jaehwan poked Ravi’s cheek then nudged the latter aside so he could help Taekwoon pass out the plates of food. He slid a plate towards Ravi first, then moved on to Soonyoung and Mark. 

Taeyong immediately noticed Mark’s hesitance and frowned. Mark had thanked Taekwoon and picked up a fork, but his jaw was clenched as he looked between Taemin’s abandoned plate and the staircase. Mark placed the fork back down and slid out of his seat.

“I’ll be back, I'm just checking on him,” Mark said to Kai.

Kai caught Mark by his upper arm before he could pass by and lowered his voice, though it didn’t have much of an effect since Taeyong - and everyone else, probably, - could still hear him. Though if anyone else did hear, they acted like they didn’t.

“He might just need some space, he wasn’t up to talking,” Kai suggested.

“It’s alright, I’m just checking,” Mark dismissed with a small shake of his head.

Mark freed his arm from Kai’s hold and rounded the island. His gaze lingered on Soonyoung for some reason, but he eventually looked away and headed up the stairs, skipping every other step.  Taeyong watched until Mark’s figure disappeared, then he looked down at his plate. He pushed a piece of broccoli around before shoving it into his mouth. He chewed slowly, trying to savor the taste. Maybe it was him being full rather early on in the meal, or maybe it was just a bland piece, but Taeyong just didn’t have much of an appetite anymore.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Jeonghan quietly swore as he held the napkin to his nose.

It was the fifth time he’d sneezed in the last ten minutes and evidently, the last one was forceful enough to bring upon a nosebleed. From across where he sat, Hakyeon had leaned a bit over the table, attentively watching Jeonghan. He held a handful of clean napkins in one hand and was currently using his other hand to keep Jeonghan from tilting his head back.

“Lean forward, not back,” Hakyeon instructed.

Jeonghan let out a light huff but allowed Hakyeon to tilt his head forward.

“Why is that, anyway?” Jeonghan asked.

“Choking, irritation to the stomach, eventual nausea and vomiting,” Hakyeon listed as he sat back.

“Oh,  _ fun,”  _ Jeonghan groaned.

Hakyeon hummed, and when Jeonghan glanced up, he was met with Hakyeon’s frown and concerned eyes. 

“Are you feeling feverish?” Hakyeon asked.

“No, I’m alright. It’s the next stop, right?” Jeonghan questioned.

“Yes…” Hakyeon lowered his voice, “Are you sure you can keep this up until then?”

Jeonghan would’ve laughed but he was too tired and didn’t want to bleed all over the place if the napkin left his nose. It’s not like he had an option, there were cameras on the train as well as other passengers, he couldn’t just dissolve their disguises, though he did appreciate the thought.

“Yeah, I got it, but thanks,” said Jeonghan.

They fell into silence after that, with Hakyeon watching the trees whiz by the window and Jeonghan waiting for his nose to stop bleeding. The slow rocking of the train lulled Jeonghan closer to sleep, but he forced himself to stay awake by pinching his ear. He couldn’t necessarily complain about receiving an ability since he signed up for it and he couldn’t complain about it being underdeveloped, he left early, plus, he’d rather  _ not _ go back through SM’s testing phase, but the one thing he couldn’t stand about it was that he had to be awake to use it. It was like a string tied around his pinky, he’d remember it at first, then eventually get used to it and not have to focus on it, but the string would still be there, but the instant he fell asleep, the knot loosened and the string slipped out of existence. 

Jeonghan looked directly into one of the bright led lights of the train, hoping it’d wake him up, and it did, but not without leaving spots in his vision for a few seconds. He wasn’t sure how long it’d been but the train didn’t seem to pass any more trees. Long forgotten were the lively green hues of the forest, instead, a vast, rocky expanse of red and brown awaited outside of the window. Somewhere in the distance were a row of tall, wide pillars that stretched into the sky covered in shimmering layers of solar panels.

The stars were significantly less visible than they were about an hour ago, so Jeonghan sighed in relief. The city couldn’t be too far then. Jeonghan wasn’t necessarily a fan of the light pollution, the constant crowd, or worst of all, the never-ending noise...but the sooner they got to Kibum’s place, the sooner he could go to sleep and be free of his thoughts.

Jeonghan removed the tissue from his nose, thankfully, the bleeding had stopped. He briefly checked his reflection in his phone to make sure there wasn’t any smeared blood on his face, then he chucked the tissue into the small garbage bin next to his seat. He cleansed his hands with the hand sanitizer provided on the table, scrunching his nose at the smell. 

“Smells like tequila…” Jeonghan muttered in disgust.

Hakyeon raised his head from where it rested on his chin and looked at the hand sanitizer, then to Jeonghan. 

“You could’ve asked me, I brought some,” said Hakyeon as he reached into one of his pockets and revealed a small pink bottle. He handed it to Jeonghan.

“Where’d you get this?” Jeonghan asked as he rubbed the sanitizer into his hands. It smelled faintly of something citrus, but it wasn’t overpowering.

“I made it myself,” said Hakyeon, taking the bottle back after Jeonghan was finished.

“Ah, nice,” Jeonghan said.

A quiet ping from Jeonghan’s phone caught his attention. He unlocked it and opened his messages, grimacing as he saw the text.

**Cheol ♥**

_ We need to talk. _

Another ping.

**Cheol ♥**

_ Let me know when you get to Kibum’s. _

“What’s wrong?” Hakyeon asked.

Jeonghan wordlessly turned his phone so it faced Hakyeon. After quickly reading it, Hakyeon’s expression mirrored Jeonghan’s. 

“Oh dear…”

The intercom clicked and fuzzed for a moment before the pre-recorded message of the conductor began to play.

_ “Attention, passengers: The train is now approaching Neo City. Do not leave luggage or personal belongings unattended. Any unattended items may be removed, destroyed, or damaged by security. As you exit please be careful of the gap between the platform and the train…” _

Jeonghan sighed and shoved the phone into his pocket, making a mental note to call Seungcheol later. He stood from his seat, holding onto the back of it for balance. He waved off Hakyeon’s reprimanding for standing on a moving train and grabbed their bags from the compartment above the table. Once Jeonghan retrieved both bags, he plopped back into his seat and stared out of the window as the neon-lit buildings grew closer. 

_ Just a while longer. _

_. _

_. _

_. _

_. _

_. _

_. _

_. _

  
  


“Kibum...answer the door...” 

Jeonghan knocked on the door again, harder this time. 

_ One. Two. Three. _

At the lack of response, Jeonghan sighed. He couldn’t help but think that Kibum should’ve changed the ‘code’. Anyone could knock three times. For all Jeonghan knew, it  _ had _ been changed in the meantime which would be why no one answered. It wasn’t even like nobody was home, the lights were clearly on even though the curtains were closed…

“Do you think he locks his windows?” Jeonghan asked Hakyeon.

“Yes...but since it’s still autumn he might have one open for warmer days,” said Hakyeon, appearing to genuinely think about it for a moment before he caught on, “But that does  _ not _ mean we break and enter, that’d be inconsiderate.”

“The first time we met you were literally breaking into a pharmacy-” 

The door opened before Hakyeon could make a rebuttal, and Jeonghan stared at the figure in the door, confused. 

It wasn’t Kibum who answered, no, it was a different man. The first thing Jeonghan noticed was how sharp the man’s features were - his eyes were set in a hardened concentration as he looked between Hakyeon and Jeonghan. He was thin and approximately Jeonghan’s height, though Jeonghan couldn’t quite nail how old he was. 

_ Maybe his age? Maybe younger? _

“Hello,” the man greeted.

“Hello...would there happen to be a ‘Kibum’ living here by any chance?” Jeonghan asked as casually as he could. 

The last thing they needed was Kibum thinking he was being raided by officials, it didn’t help that they didn’t exactly look like themselves.

“I’m afraid you have the wrong address,” said the man, already moving to close the door.

“Wait!” Jeonghan shoved his foot between the door right before it closed, he winced at the impact but it got the man’s attention and that was good enough, “It’s Jeonghan and Hakyeon.” 

“Sorry, but I don’t recognize you. Please move so I can shut the door.” The man looked Jeonghan up and down, but otherwise, his expression remained neutral. 

Jeonghan internally debated against it for a moment, but sighed and reluctantly removed his foot from the door. Instead of the man slamming the door shut like Jeonghan would have expected, he slowly closed the door, but not completely. 

There was a tiny crack left, if the door was pushed slightly more, it would be fully closed, but it  _ wasn’t _ . Jeonghan could force it open if he wanted to. He wouldn’t, of course. If it weren’t Kibum’s home, then he’d have the police called on him and it’d generally be embarrassing while potentially scaring the man who lived there...but he  _ could. _

Jeonghan turned his head to look at Hakyeon and smirked, glancing at the door. Hakyeon squinted at the door and as though he could read Jeonghan’s thoughts, he rolled his eyes.

“No, I have a list of things we need to do, and getting arrested is  _ not _ on it,” Hakyeon stated while waving a finger.

Jeonghan tilted his head and hovered his hand over the door handle, watching as Hakyeon’s glare grow more intense the closer his hand got to touching the handle. 

“ _ Jeonghan, _ ” Hakyeon warned.

“Hm…” Jeonghan finally took his hand back, “I’ll try to find a hotel or something…” He took his phone from his pocket and unlocked it, turning away from the door. 

Jeonghan wasn’t sure if a part of him was expecting...or even  _ hoping _ for the man to open the door and give him another chance to speak, but needless to say, when he heard the creak of the hinges and not a second later felt a hand grab him by the collar and pull him inside, he couldn’t stop the grin that spread across his face. 

He heard Hakyeon call for him, twice. Once as he got grabbed and the second after the door closed and his head was forced to the wood. Luckily not with enough force to hurt, but it was enough to keep him from turning around. His wrists were being held together, and Jeonghan went to make a snarky comment about the man’s lack of manners, but the thought came to an abrupt stop and the grin slipped off his face when he felt the cold metal of handcuffs tightly close around his wrists. 

_ Fuck. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a little short, my apologies, but I wanted to update since it's already been two weeks...yikes. I'm hitting a bit of a block but not because I don't want to write this anymore, it's more like there are some exciting plot points I want to get to but of course, for all of the exciting points there comes all of the in-between and sometimes writing the in-between can feel a little 'eh'. With that said, I'll try to put out another chapter in idk...NOT two weeks this time. Hopefully sooner^^


	28. Trust

Jeonghan's heartbeat quickened as he felt his hold on Hakyeon’s disguise slip away from him. The man applied more pressure to Jeonghan's head and he felt his falter for a split second. The man definitely must have seen what he actually looked like, but Jeonghan found himself holding up the illusion anyway in false hope that perhaps the man had blinked or looked away. The brief pause in the man’s movements gave away the fact that he _had_ caught Jeonghan’s slip up, so Jeonghan grit his teeth, waiting for a gunshot or an electric shock.

Neither came.

“State your identity,” the man demanded.

Instead of responding, Jeonghan kicked his foot where he hoped the man’s shins would be, and to his luck, the man grunted and his hold loosened. Jeonghan used the opportunity to thrash around to the best of his ability, trying to be freed of the man’s grasp. 

Jeonghan was yanked away from the door and he felt the man’s knee on his back as the floor rushed toward him. Jeonghan pushed off his right foot and flung his body to the side, offsetting both him and the man as they fell to the ground. Jeonghan landed with a hard thud on his side with the man right behind him. He ignored the soreness and tried to rise to his feet, but the man pulled Jeonghan by the ankle, forcing him to one knee, then tackled Jeonghan to the ground, landing on top of him and pressing a knee into Jeonghan’s abdomen. 

With the wind knocked out of him, Jeonghan gave up on holding the illusion since it was hard enough to catch his breath as it was.

“Is it really you?” 

Jeonghan strained his neck at the sound of a voice he recognized as Kibum’s and was met with an upside-down view of the man himself. 

“Kibum?” Jeonghan uttered.

Aside from his now black hair that reached his ears and his facial features that either sharpened with the use of makeup or weight loss via stress, he looked nearly the same as the last time Jeonghan saw him. 

“Let me see his hands,” Kibum said to the man.

The man nodded and removed his knee so he could bring Jeonghan to a sitting position by the shoulders. Jeonghan raised his hands as high as he could with his wrists having been handcuffed behind his back, and he felt something metal run along his pinky until it hit his SVT ring. By reflex, Jeonghan jerked his hands away. Kibum released a long sigh before moving away.

“Okay,” Kibum rose to his feet and adjusted his black, knee-length coat, “Uncuff him.”

Without a word of protest, the man shifted so he was behind Jeonghan and held the middle of the handcuff’s chain between two fingers. Jeonghan felt the cuffs vibrate before they clicked open and fell to the floor. Kibum groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Ugh, you scared me. Don’t do that again, I thought the officials finally found me,” Kibum said as he helped Jeonghan to his feet.

“We scared _you_?!” Jeonghan pointed to himself, then Kibum, sputtering his next sentence in disbelief, “Wh-... I thought I was getting arrested! Ah, really...is this how you welcome guests?” 

“Not usually, but we had to make sure you weren’t frauds..sorry about that,” said Kibum. 

Jeonghan went to ask who the other man was but was interrupted by a panel swinging open from the hallway’s ceiling followed by the attic ladder sliding out. Completely disregarding the ladder, Hakyeon dropped from the opening with a fire poker in hand, swinging at the back of Kibum’s head.

“Watch it!” Jeonghan called.

Jeonghan saw the realization flicker on Hakyeon’s face just as Kibum turned around. Kibum caught the fire poker in his right hand, wrapping his fingers around it as he moved it aside. Jeonghan hadn’t noticed it until that moment, but Kibum was wearing a partial glove, and where his index and middle finger used to be, there were two metallic prosthetic fingers. 

“Nice to see you too,” Kibum said, calmly taking the fire poker from Hakyeon.

“Kibum? What’s all this?” Hakyeon asked.

“As I told Jeonghan, I had to make sure you weren’t sent by SM,” Kibum leaned the fire poker against the wall, then abruptly froze before spinning around to face Hakyeon, “How did you get in my house?”

“The window in the attic. I locked it behind me, no worries,” Hakyeon said, vaguely motioning above him.

Kibum stared at the attic ladder, then looked at Hakyeon. He slowly nodded and raised his brows.

“Noted...anyway, this is Dong Sicheng, ex-trainee, new to the business. Sicheng, meet Yoon Jeonghan and Cha Hakyeon,” Kibum said. He pushed up the attic ladder and closed the panel.

Sicheng straightened up and extended his hand, shaking both of theirs with a small grin.

“It’s nice to meet you. My apologies for ah...this.” Sicheng outstretched his fingers in the direction of the handcuffs. The handcuffs vibrated then flew into his grasp.

“No worries,” said Hakyeon with a grin.

“Easy for you to say,” Jeonghan scoffed, “But it’s alright...what is your ability, anyway?” 

“ _Oh_ ,” said Sicheng after realizing that Jeonghan was speaking to him.

“Magnetism,” Sicheng beamed.

Sicheng raised the hand that held the handcuffs and splayed his palm. They didn’t fall to the floor when he let go. Upon a closer look, Jeonghan could see that they were attached to the iron ring on his middle finger. He closed his hand around the cuffs then attached them to his belt. 

“Interesting,” said Hakyeon.

Jeonghan made a noise of agreement. He took a brief look around the room they were in now that he wasn’t in the middle of trying to escape. 

Directly ahead of the front door was a hallway that stretched ahead with two rooms on each side, and at the very end was another door that was closed at the moment. To Jeonghan’s right was the kitchen. The cabinets were painted white, popping out against the aqua colored walls, and the surprisingly spotless - if Jeonghan said so himself - floor was composed of the same polished hardwood that was in the entrance room. To the left was an open archway into the living room, which wasn’t large by any means, but didn’t appear cramped either. There were only one couch and two accent chairs placed atop a large, grey flat weave rug. A holo-television set was placed atop the fireplace, and various abstract paintings were hung along the wall.

“It’s late, have you two eaten yet?” Kibum asked.

“Not yet,” Jeonghan answered, rubbing his wrists where the cuffs had been.

“Alright then, come on and sit down, I’ll bring your dinner. Are you both okay with curry?” Kibum was hardly over the kitchen’s threshold when Sicheng walked ahead of him and gestured to the living room. 

“I can get it,” said Sicheng.

“You don’t have to, it’s alright-”

“I insist,” Sicheng said with a grin.

Kibum returned the smile and rubbed Sicheng’s shoulder.

“Thank you, Sicheng. Make sure you get some for yourself as well,” said Kibum.

Sicheng nodded and entered the kitchen, leaving the three in the hall. Kibum sighed and turned to face Hakyeon and Jeonghan.

“What a nice boy,” Hakyeon chuckled.

“I know right! He’s wonderful. Now,” Kibum held out his arms and made a small grabbing motion, “Hugs.”

Hakyeon let out a light laugh and gave Kibum a tight hug, lifting Kibum a bit off of the floor before lowering him. 

“Oh, I missed both of you so much,” Kibum slid out of Hakyeon’s arms and into Jeonghan’s.

Jeonghan smiled and propped his chin onto Kibum’s shoulder. The scent of freshly baked bread and coffee clung to his coat along with something faint that was close to sugar cookies. Jeonghan perked up a bit and pulled back from the hug.

“Were you at the bakery?” Jeonghan asked. 

“Yes, I dropped by earlier. The sweets aren’t exactly like Minghao’s were, but they’re still top tier. Jonghyun has been doing a great job running the place. Depending on how long you stay, I think we should visit,” said Kibum as they entered the living room and sat down, with Jeonghan and Hakyeon on the couch while he sat in one of the chairs, “But first things first: the press conference.”

“So, you read the letter, nothing has changed about the plan since then, but I _did_ hear something that was...interesting, I’ll say. So you know how Chan wasn’t supposed to debut for another month? He was going to be a part of whatever new NCT subgroup- ah, NCT _Q_.” Kibum snapped his fingers as he remembered the name.

“Why was it pushed forward?” Hakyeon questioned, looking just as wary and mildly confused as Jeonghan felt.

“Originally, Taemin was supposed to debut with them, but for some reason...he’s gone missing,” Kibum said with genuine concern.

“I heard there was a failed experiment that had prevented Super M from going on any missions, so I don’t know how he would have gone missing. We’ve checked the streets and come up with nothing, and he hasn’t been added to the watchlist, so I...don’t know.” Kibum rested his elbow on the arm of the chair.

“Taemin’s not missing,” Jeonghan immediately cut in.

“What?” Kibum lifted his head from his hand, confused.

“He’s at the VIXX base right now.” Hakyeon nodded solemnly.

Jeonghan subconsciously ran the pad of his thumb over the ring on his pinky, outlining the roman numerals cut out in the metal. He felt a dull ache in his chest at the reminder of Taemin’s short-lived reunion with Hakyeon. He had no idea what he would do if he were finally able to reunite with Chan, only for the latter to resent him - well, it’d be a bit much to say Taemin _resented_ Hakyeon...or at least too much to say that Taemin’s bitterness was directly at _only_ Hakyeon - Jeonghan knew it was partially his fault. He should have told Taemin immediately instead of procrastinating until the last moment had nearly passed, but at the moment, Jeonghan couldn’t help but feel more concerned about the same thing happening again. He could only hope that Chan wouldn’t hate Jeonghan for leaving him behind, that hadn’t been Jeonghan’s intention, but he hardly had a defense when days turned to months and months stretched into a year...what would he even say if given the chance? 

“Since when?” Kibum asked after sputtering for a moment.

“Just over two weeks ago, and whoever is debuting with Chan isn’t Super M,” said Hakyeon.

“What do you mean?” Kibum prompted.

“They’re clones. X-Taemin-... Taemin’s _clone_ attacked the SVT base yesterday. The real Super M escaped and have been with us since,” Hakyeon explained.

_‘Yesterday’..._

Jeonghan rubbed his temple. God, it had been a long day. It felt like the base was attacked three days prior, not the previous night.

“ _Yesterday_? Is everyone alright?” A crinkle immediately formed between Kibum’s brows. 

Out of his peripheral vision, Jeonghan saw Hakyeon’s eyes flitter over to him, waiting to see if he’d respond. His hesitance caused the following silence to bloat, and soon enough Kibum was looking at him as well. Jeonghan pursed his lips and slowly shook his head.

“Seokmin and Lucas were out when the clone attacked. Jihoon and Jun managed to find them and destroy the clone but they’re all still recovering from the battle...and afterward, Jihoon lost control of his ability and Joshua was injured as a result, Kai said it was minor it’s just…” Jeonghan trailed off, losing track of his thoughts as he fought the lump that threatened to form in his throat, “It’s a lot to handle right now, but Sanghyuk is over there now just in case anything else happens.”

A series of emotions flickered over Kibum’s features and Jeonghan could see his fingers twitching before Kibum loosely clenched the hand with the prosthetic fingers into a fist then placed his other hand over it. 

“I’m so sorry,” Kibum whispered.

Jeonghan couldn’t offer much more than a nod. He bit the inside of his cheek and deeply inhaled through his nose, willing himself to calm down. 

“How did…” Kibum quietly began, “Do you know how he found you? They never check that forest.”

“I don’t know how. If they’re being tracked somehow, they haven’t gone to the other bases yet. Or at least we haven’t heard any news yet, it’s only been a day,” said Jeonghan.

Sicheng entered the room and silently handed the bowls of rice and curry to Hakyeon and Jeonghan before exiting. Throughout the interaction, he didn’t make eye contact with either of them and Jeonghan wondered if he had overheard.

Jeonghan’s phone pinged and he held his breath as he took it from his pocket. 

**Joshuji** **♥**

_Did you get to the city safely?_

“Everything alright?” Hakyeon asked.

“Yeah,” Jeonghan tapped his fingers against his thigh then stood up, “I just have to make a call. Is there a room where I can…”

Kibum nodded and looked at the entrance to the room.

“If you make a left, there’s a room at the end of the hall,” said Kibum.

Jeonghan thanked him and placed his bowl on the circular table in front of the couch. He left the living room and walked down the hall, opening his contact list as he did so. His finger hovered over the call button next to Seungcheol’s name and after some hesitancy, he forced himself to press it. 

Right as Jeonghan closed the door of the room Kibum directed him to, Seungcheol picked up. Jeonghan took a deep breath and held the phone to his ear. Neither of them spoke, so Jeonghan broke the silence.

“We made it here safely,” Jeonghan stated.

_“That’s good...”_

There were sounds of shuffling, and something rubbed against the speaker before Seungcheol continued.

_“Jeonghan.”_

Jeonghan closed his eyes and rested the back of his head against the door. He knew that voice.

It was the same voice Seungcheol used when Mingyu accidentally set his bed on fire and Seungcheol found out that it was due to Jeonghan scaring him into being awake. 

The same voice that Seungcheol used when Hansol had made himself sick by overestimating how much poison his body could handle. 

Jeonghan and a few of the other members had talked about the times that Seungcheol pulled them aside for ‘a talk’, and they had agreed that if there was anything that felt worse than witnessing Seungcheol’s anger, it was being on the receiving side of his disappointment.

“Yes?” Jeonghan answered.

_“What you did- what you’re doing...it is highly irresponsible,”_ said Seungcheol.

“I know,” Jeonghan admitted. 

_“Then why did you do it?”_ Seungcheol asked.

Rather than anger lacing his tone, it sounded like Seungcheol was pleading. Jeonghan could envision the upturn of his brows and the note of sorrow in his eyes.

“Chan is debuting tomorrow, I had no other choice,” Jeonghan said.

_“Both of us know that’s a lie.”_

Jeonghan stepped away from the door and shuffled toward the bed on the opposite wall. He sat on the floor, leaning back against the side of the bed.

“You’re right, I could’ve decided to miss the conference and lose the one opportunity I have to get Chan out of there,” Jeonghan said.

_“Other opportunities will be there, but if you run in now-”_

“We’ve been saying that for years and look where it’s gotten us,” Jeonghan snapped.

Seungcheol remained quiet after that, and a part of Jeonghan felt bad, but the pent-up frustration prompted him to keep speaking.

“We’re sitting ducks, at this point. SM knows our location and it’s only a matter of time before another attack takes place. We can’t wait any longer,” Jeonghan said.

_“I understand, but what happens if you get hurt in the process?”_ came Seungcheol’s voice, more mellow than before, _“I just...i’m sorry.”_

“What?” 

The heartbreak in Seungcheol’s tone momentarily stripped Jeonghan of any irritation.

_“I know there wasn’t any closure for our conversation yesterday and I never apologized. While I still believe that your plan could have used more...consideration, I shouldn’t have called you impulsive and I’m sorry if that affected your trust in me. I just wish that you would have let me know that you were leaving instead of Soonyoung having to tell me that you were long gone.”_

Jeonghan removed the phone from his ear and released a shuddering sigh. He thumped the back of his head against the bed and winced. 

There it was.

The final nail in the coffin. 

“No...please don’t apologize,” Jeonghan groaned, “I know that I shouldn’t have left so suddenly and I’m sorry that I made you feel like I didn’t trust you enough to tell you. It wasn’t a matter of trust, it was just....” 

Jeonghan wasn’t sure what else it would be, but he didn’t _want_ it to be a matter of trust. Though when it came down to it, it didn’t matter what he wanted and he knew that. Jeonghan hadn’t wanted Taemin to accidentally slip up in front of Jooheon, but for a reason unknown to himself, his response had been to avoid telling Taemin altogether. It was stupid, in retrospect, much like this situation would most likely be once it was over and done with. If Jeonghan was being honest with himself, he already felt the control slipping away from him. Seungcheol was right, the decision was irresponsible _and_ impulsive; but regardless, it was a decision that he’d made and if it meant that Jeonghan would have to bear the consequences alone, he could accept that.

“Everything will be alright. Hakyeon is with me and Kibum has new recruits. We aren’t planning to stay for the entire conference, just long enough to get the information we need-”

_And help a certain someone escape if they can,_ Jeonghan excluded.

“And leave.” Jeonghan finished. 

Seungcheol huffed and there were more sounds of shuffling. Jeonghan assumed that he was pacing their room.

_“I still don’t agree with all of this but just...please be careful, Jeonghan. I-”_ Seungcheol’s voice wavered, _“I don’t want to lose you.”_

“If anything goes wrong, I'll tell you...now, it’s nearly midnight. You should get some rest,” said Jeonghan, desperately trying to cut the conversation short before he said something that he'd regret.

_“You too but make sure you eat something, alright? And dress warm, it’s getting colder nowadays,”_ Seungcheol instructed.

“I will, I will, don’t worry. I love you,” Jeonghan said.

_“I love you too. Before you go, Joshua wants to speak to you,”_ said Seungcheol.

“Mm.”

The speaker crackled as Seungcheol handed the phone to Joshua. 

_“Hello?”_

“Hi, sweetie. How are you feeling?” 

_“I’ve had better days, but I've also had worse,”_ Joshua released a light exhale, _“I won’t hold you for long - Seungcheol already said what I wanted to - I just wanted to make sure you got to Kibum’s safely and are prepared for tomorrow.”_

“Kibum gave us the plan, we won’t be staying long enough to be there when the crime occurs,” Jeonghan said.

_“I meant...will you be alright seeing Chan?”_

Jeonghan bit his lip. Either response wouldn’t be completely correct, but saying “No” wouldn’t do anything for his case. 

“Yeah,” said Jeonghan.

To Jeonghan’s relief, Joshua didn’t push it past that, and all he heard in response was a hum.

_“Well, alright. As Seungcheol said, if anything goes wrong, contact us,”_ Joshua said.

“I will. Is everyone else doing okay?” Jeonghan asked.

_“I wouldn’t say ‘okay’ but nothing’s gotten worse. Jihoon woke up earlier, but he can’t move around much. If you have the chance, could you pick up some painkillers?”_ Joshua asked.

“It’s good to hear he’s up, at least. I’ll run by the pharmacy tomorrow,” Jeonghan replied.

_“Okay. I’ll see you soon then, love you,”_ said Joshua.

A fond grin spread on Jeonghan’s face. 

“I love you too. Good night.”

_“Good night.”_

A small beep signaled the end of the call, and the screen went dark, leaving the moon to illuminate the edges of the furniture in the room. Jeonghan’s knees popped in protest as he raised himself from the uncomfortable position he’d been sitting in. He stretched his leg, ridding it of the cramp that had set in, and with a final sigh, shoved his phone into his pocket and exited the room.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

No matter how many times Junji had assured him everything would be alright, Chan couldn’t calm his rapidly beating heart. His throat was scratchy and dry, and the movements of the other five people in the room hardly registered. A hand slithering around his neck followed by a shallow weight pressed into his side caused Chan to tense. 

“Oh, don’t look so blue. We’re debuting today, Channie. This is exciting!”

Chan didn't hide the disgusted shiver that ran down his spine at the nickname and tried to inch away from the man next to him, but the grip around his neck only tightened. 

“Let him be, Ten. He’s nervous,” came Baekhyun’s voice. 

Baekhyun sat on the opposite end of the U-shaped couch. He looked out of the window to his left, observing the streets below them. The window took up the entirety of the wall, giving them a wide view of the city. The sight was much more appealing at night, at least in Chan’s opinion. The buildings that surrounded SM shimmered a brilliant silver, but the outskirts of the city faded into a dull sepia palette, clouded by smog.

“Hmph, I guess.” 

Chan closed his eyes in relief once Ten unlatched himself from his side and slunk to where Baekhyun sat, unceremoniously dumping himself onto the older’s lap.

“Leave it up to Taemin’s dumb ass to bail at the last minute,” Kai muttered from where he was fixing his hair in the mirror.

There wasn’t any point, there would be stylists at the venue, but Chan kept his mouth shut and leaned his head back against the couch, wishing to be anywhere but surrounded by the Super M members. He wasn’t even supposed to be there.

Ryeowook, Super M’s manager, had knocked on his door _that morning_ at an ungodly time to tell him that he would debut in six hours. There was hardly enough time to tell Junji before he left - well, there was hardly enough time to even process what he’d just been informed of. Afterward, he’d been whisked to Ryeowook’s superior’s office to be given an explanation about why his debut had been moved forward that could hardly be considered an explanation at all with how vague it was. In the end, all he had taken away from it was that for ‘personal reasons’, Taemin had to take a break and Chan would have to fill in until then in order not to disappoint the public.

It was a crock of shit, Chan already knew that.

Unless a hero was critically injured or had paid off their debt to the company, which was _rare_ , nobody got an extended break. Chan didn’t know why he was specifically chosen as the first choice for backup instead of a different Level Four trainee, but he knew that when it came down to it, unless he wanted Junji to take his place - which was immediately declined with the knowledge of Junji’s pre-existing struggle in his current group - there was nothing that could be done. 

“It’s too bad, I thought he was cool,” said Mark.

Mark was sitting on the floor with his back to the window as he read over the script for the interview. Chan had thoroughly read through his own countless times. To his luck, all he had to do would be introducing himself and offering reactions to the other members. It was easy enough, but he couldn’t help the looming sense of dread that hung over him. He could only hope that no one would ask him why he replaced Taemin, especially considering Chan hadn’t been in the Arena with the rest of the members.

Ten gasped and looked over Baekhyun’s shoulder, flashing a bright smile at Mark, “Do you think he became an Anti?” 

“Don’t be ridiculous, Taemin wouldn’t stoop _that_ low,” said Baekhyun. 

Chan clenched his jaw and swallowed his next words before he could say them aloud. He ripped his gaze away from the foggy skyline and stared into his lap.

“You never know...it’s quite hard to tell who can be trusted nowadays,” Ten drawled, “Isn’t that right, Chan?”

Chan's eye twitched at that. Before he could say anything, the automatic doors to the room slid open. Chan glanced to see who it was and to his mild surprise, it was none other than Kim Doyoung; one of NCT's most skilled members. Chan didn't personally know him, he'd only shared small talk during training sessions in the past, but he did know that Doyoung was close to Taeyong based on the times Chan had seen them sitting together in the cafeteria or in the reserved practice rooms. Today, it was difficult for Chan to tell if Doyoung simply didn't have a schedule and was dressed casually or if he'd woken up and rushed to the waiting room immediately. Chan's bet was on the latter, based on the unbrushed head of indigo-dyed fluffy hair Doyoung was sporting.

"Hi, sorry to interrupt, is Taeyong here?" Doyoung hurriedly asked.

"He's in the dressing room," said Lucas from where he was standing by the window. 

Doyoung eyed the door on the other side of the room, "Thanks."

He was distracted, Chan could tell. It was odd to see, considering how vigilant Doyoung usually was. Then again, he hadn't seen him in a week or two so something might've happened, or it was just an off day, either way, Chan didn't linger on the thought for too long. He had enough on his plate as it was.

Doyoung crossed the room and stood in front of the dressing room door. He raised his hand to the door and a blue light shined from its center, casting a grid on his hand. The grid blinked before disappearing and the door slid open, appearing to merge with the stark white wall. Doyoung entered the dressing room and the door slid to a close behind him.

Chan settled back into the couch, laying his head on the back of it. He stared at the tiled ceiling and took a deep breath. He heard Lucas moving around behind the couch but didn’t bother checking what he was up to. 

“Ryeowook will be here shortly,” Lucas muttered.

“Is the van here already?” Ten asked, playing with the silver strands at the nape of Baekhyun’s neck.

“Hard to tell because of the traffic,” said Lucas.

The door to the hallway slid open and Chan opened his eyes to see Ryeowook standing in the doorway. He wore a rosewood red suit and his black hair was slicked back, though a few strands were out of place, falling over his forehead. He brushed them back into place with his fingers then adjusted the tablet in his hands. Despite his pristine clothes, hair, and makeup, if Chan squinted, he could see a faint tinge of purple beneath his left eye that his concealer wasn’t thick enough to completely hide. 

_Another bullet point to add to the list of abnormal things he'd seen in the day._

Ryeowook hadn’t been an active hero in years, but for all Chan knew he had gone on a private mission or something of the sort. Chan hoped he wouldn’t have to stay active as long as Ryeowook was, especially with what happened to the older's group.

“The van is on its way. Have you all read over the script?” Ryeowook asked, checking something on his tablet.

“Yes,” the SuperM members answered unanimously. 

“Memorized and all?” Ryeowook checked.

“Yes sir,” Mark answered while everyone else settled on nodding or muttered agreement.

“Alright, then let’s get going. Even if we’re stuck in traffic, we’ll most likely have about an hour before the conference starts. Once you get there, you’ll be given a rundown on what to do in case of an emergency,” Ryeowook looked up from the tablet and scanned the room, “Where’s Taeyong?”

“Dressing room,” Kai and Mark answered.

Ryeowook’s earpiece beeped and his eyes narrowed in concentration as he listened to the person on the other side of the line.

“Can’t you tell me now? I’m about to leave,” Ryeowook said through grit teeth.

Whatever was said next wasn’t to Ryeowook’s pleasure based on the roll of his eyes. He sighed then held the tablet at his side as the light on his earpiece flickered off. 

“Okay, can one of you make sure he gets in the van on time? I have something to attend to before we leave. If I’m not there in ten minutes, leave anyway,” said Ryeowook, not waiting for a response before leaving the room. Ten raised his eyebrows and looked at Lucas with an expectant look in his eyes but Lucas shrugged.

“Something about not keeping an eye on NCT Dream, they said if Ryeowook wanted to know then he should check for himself,” said Lucas.

“Ah.” 

Ten removed himself from Baekhyun’s lap and stood, patting down his clothes. He sauntered to where Mark sat and held out his hand. Once Mark had taken hold of it, Ten pulled him to his feet then interlaced their fingers, leading the way to the door with a satisfied grin. Kai adjusted the collar of his ankle-length, two-toned red and white coat then followed the others out of the door, leaving Chan and Baekhyun in the room. Baekhyun paused in the doorway and glanced at Chan.

“Make sure you and Taeyong get down there on time,” Baekhyun ordered.

“Got it,” Chan deadpanned. 

Baekhyun nodded then continued down the hall as the door shut behind him.

_God, he couldn’t stand them._

Chan wasn’t sure if any past pleasantries had been fake, but ever since the two-week long break the SuperM members took for reasons still unknown to Chan, the members were hardly seen in the cafeteria or the training rooms. He knew what their abilities were, thanks to Ryeowook having explained it to him earlier on in the day, but Chan wasn’t sure how well he’d be able to fit in, both ability and personality-wise. 

Chan pushed himself off of the couch and to his feet, pacing for a bit as he waited for Taeyong and Doyoung to exit. After a minute of waiting, he finally mustered the courage to retrieve them himself. Just as he raised his fist to knock on the door, it slid open and he made eye contact with Taeyong. 

Cold, dark eyes stared back at Chan before Taeyong passed by Chan, pushing past his shoulder in the process. Chan glared at him and opened his mouth to point out the rude action, but Taeyong was already by the other door.

“The van is here, we’re leaving soon,” Chan said, forcing himself to stay civil.

Taeyong stopped for a moment, then without a word of acknowledgment, kept walking. Chan let out an irritated huff then turned his attention to Doyoung, who lingered by a chair in the dressing room with his back to Chan. He was unnaturally still.

“Is everything okay?” Chan asked.

He wasn’t sure why he bothered asking, it was none of his business and he had a press conference to get to, but something about Doyoung’s demeanor seemed off. 

Doyoung turned around and stared at the door where Taeyong had just exited. There was a hint of confusion in his eyes followed by a look of disdain.

“Yeah,” Doyoung said curtly, “I guess the stress is just getting to him.”

Doyoung scoffed and looked away from the door, regarding Chan with a less sharp gaze. 

“Good luck with the press conference.” Doyoung didn’t bother forcing a grin and settled for a light pat on Chan’s shoulder as he passed by. 

“Thanks.”

Chan watched Doyoung leave, then looked out of the window once more. Far below him were the bustling streets, stuffed with cars and masses of pedestrians. The sight was dizzying, and the colors began to mush together into an unpleasant eyesore. All of those people would be watching him, _depending_ on him. If something went wrong, it'd be his fault. Chan stepped back, blinking his vision clear and a single thought came to his mind.

_He wasn’t ready._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUYS ack!! I'm so sorry for the long wait. I know I've been saying this a lot recently, but I've been super busy :') This chapter was kind of short, coming in at about 5k when I had 7k planned, but I'll make up for it in the next chapter no worries! There'll probably be more fluff as well^^
> 
> Also sorry if there are any errors, usually I go through and act as my own beta-reader after letting the chapter simmer for a day or two so I can view it with fresh eyes, but I pulled like...four all-nighters last week so I edited this one while sleep-deprived and in turn, it might be a bit more clunky.


	29. Just A Box

“ _ Somebody’s _ worried.”

Jaehwan scrunched his nose at the burn of liquor that traveled down his throat. Across the kitchen island, the twirling of the dagger in Taekwoon’s hand ceased. With a quiet clack of Taekwoon’s ring against the marble, the dagger was set onto the countertop. 

“You’re one to talk,” Taekwoon gave Jaehwan a once over, “Drinking at nine in the morning…”

“Okay, and? You look like you’re about to cry,” Jaehwan rebutted with no real heat in his voice.

Taekwoon rolled his eyes and grabbed the glass out of Jaehwan’s hand, ignoring the latter’s protests in favor of downing what was left.

“Hey, hey, hey! That was mine!” Jaehwan complained.

“ _ Was, _ ” Taekwoon emphasized, placing the emptied glass in the sink. 

Jaehwan glared at Taekwoon as he let his chin rest on his hand, but gave up after Taekwoon stared directly back at him. Jaehwan scoffed. Even without using his ability, there was something intimidating about Taekwoon’s stone-cold gaze. 

“Well, anyway,” Jaehwan sighed, “I was thinking…”

“About?” Taekwoon prompted after Jaehwan trailed off.

Jaehwan eyed the door to Ravi’s office, then pursed his lips. For once, Ravi had slept upstairs instead of in that old, stuffy room. For a reason that Jaehwan didn’t bother prying for in his half-unconscious state the night prior, Ravi had requested to sleep next to Jaehwan, to which he agreed. Though now that Jaehwan was almost fully awake, he found himself questioning it. It wasn’t unusual for Ravi to be tactile with Jaehwan, but he’d only sleep in his bed if the loneliness and ache of being away from home were overwhelming.

“Maybe once this blows over...or I guess I should say  _ if _ this blows over, however long it takes...I was thinking that we could take Ravi to see his sister,” Jaehwan proposed.

“You know he can’t do that, it’s too risky - for both of them,” said Taekwoon.

“That’s true, but…” Jaehwan inhaled, briefly debating if he wanted to tell Taekwoon about the phone call he’d overheard - or eavesdropped on if he were being honest.

He hadn’t been able to stay for most of it, since Mark had interrupted him, but Ravi had been talking to one of his former coworkers, which Jaehwan hadn’t understood until he heard the topic of conversation. 

“I heard Ravi talking to Xydo,” Jaehwan finally said. 

“ _ Xydo? _ ” Taekwoon’s eyes widened, “Why is he still speaking to him?”

Jaehwan raised a hand, “ _ I know, _ I know… I didn’t get the full conversation, but it sounded like he was just asking if Wonhee was doing well. I guess Xydo has been keeping an eye on her since...well, you know.”

“And that’s extremely dangerous. If the misdeeds that Xydo and the rest of them have done come back and bite them, there’s no telling what will happen to her,” Taekwoon fumed. 

“ _ I _ know,” Jaehwan hissed, mildly annoyed at having to repeat himself, “So don’t shoot the messenger. As I was saying, maybe after all of this is over, seeing her once might...I don’t know, put his heart at rest.”

Jaehwan could see the ‘ _ no _ ’ that Taekwoon was holding back in the way that the latter’s jaw was clenched along with the sharp yet inaudible exhale through his nose. Jaehwan tapped his foot against the leg of the stool he sat on and averted his eyes. Maybe he’d ask again later when he had an actual plan.

“Just something to consider...can I have my glass back?” Jaehwan asked.

He made a grabbing motion with his hand toward the sink and Taekwoon blinked, clearly unamused. 

Jaehwan squinted and hummed. He’d have to try harder. He could have easily gotten up to retrieve it himself but thinking about it, he hadn’t messed with Taekwoon in a while and the fuzziness from the alcohol certainly wasn’t deterring Jaehwan from acting on the idea. So, Jaehwan propped his elbows on the island and cupped his cheeks, then tilted his head.

“Please?” Jaehwan pouted for extra effect.

“You’re about to enter the latter half of your 20s,” Taekwoon deadpanned.

“Not for another like...seven months, give me a break. Anyway, can you pass it to me? I don’t feel like getting up.” 

“No.”

At the same time, both of their eyes flickered to the bottle of whisky on the island next to Jaehwan, and Taekwoon shot him a glare.  _ A warning. _

Before Jaehwan’s hand reached the whisky, Taekwoon had snatched the bottle away, holding it by the neck. He placed it under the sink then closed the cabinet.

“Eat something first, will you?” 

Taekwoon eyed Jaehwan up and down with a frown but didn’t say anything else as he grabbed the pan from the drying rack and placed it onto the stove. Jaehwan watched as Taekwoon gathered ingredients from the fridge and spread them across the counter. He turned on the burner then quickly got to work on chopping the vegetables. Based on the ingredients, Jaehwan guessed he would be making some pasta dish and while it might be a bit heavy for breakfast, it would taste good enough that Jaehwan knew he wouldn’t care. 

A loud thump from beneath the sink caused both of them to flinch.

Taekwoon looked up from the tomato he was cutting and shared a look with Jaehwan, who merely shrugged. Taekwoon’s irises flared a brilliant gold and without breaking eye contact, he silently placed the kitchen knife down and picked up his dagger.

_ 'Did you hear that?'  _ Taekwoon's voice echoed in his head.

_ ‘You probably knocked something over, nice going,’ _ Jaehwan projected with a scoff.

_ ‘Too loud.’ _

Another thump.

Taekwoon spun around, facing the cabinet with his dagger held defensively. Jaehwan rounded the island, about to open the cabinet, but Taekwoon tsked and pushed Jaehwan away from the sink with his free hand. 

With a single tug, Taekwoon pulled open the cabinet doors.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Mark wanted to get up, he really did, but it was difficult when there was a fully unconscious Taemin on top of him. 

Beneath the fluffy blankets of the guest room they were in, unlike Taeyong, who peacefully slept near the edge of the bed, Mark was laid on his back while Taemin lay face down with one arm and leg draped over Mark’s body. His face was buried in the pillow, barely tilted so he still received oxygen. Mark tried to shift away, but Taemin’s arm only snaked farther around him and his grip tightened, squeezing the air out of Mark’s lungs. Mark gasped a bit for air, lightly patting Taemin’s shoulder.

To his luck, Taemin’s grip loosened - albeit marginally - but it was enough for Mark to take a breath. He let his head fall back on the pillow with a relieved sigh. Before he attempted to free himself again, he briefly reflected on the previous night. 

_ Three knocks on the door. _

_ “Taemin?”  _

_ Mark’s voice was hardly louder than a whisper, and based on the following silence, he assumed that perhaps, Taemin didn’t hear him. Mark raised his fist to knock once more when he heard Taemin’s voice from within. _

_ “Come in.” _

_ After a moment’s hesitation, Mark cracked open the door and peeked through before fully entering the room and shutting the door behind him. Taemin’s back was to Mark as the former looked at the paintings along the wall. He crouched slightly to see one that was signed with Taeyong’s initials.  _

_ Mark slowly approached Taemin, glancing at the painting. He noticed it was one of the ones he’d seen Taeyong making. The background was composed of short strokes of amber and emerald with a smooth curve of black cutting through it, like a river stream. Upon closer look, Mark scowled. The dark strokes that branched from the stream were curved in a way similar to the patterns of the vein-like tendrils that used to decorate Taeyong’s arms. Or perhaps Mark was looking too deep into it. Either way, he placed the thought aside, that wasn’t why he was here. _

_ “You okay?” Mark asked. _

_ Taemin turned his head ever so slightly in Mark’s direction. From where Mark stood, he couldn’t see Taemin’s expression, but he could tell that the older had been broken out of the trance that the painting set him in.  _

_ “Yes,” Taemin stated. _

_ Mark slowly blinked, unsure of how to respond. So he waited in silence until Taemin spoke up again. _

_ “No...I don’t know,” said Taemin, a bit absentmindedly.  _

_ “Was it something that happened at the SVT base?” Mark asked though he knew very well what happened. He had to literally bite his tongue in his struggle not to spill. Mark supposed Jaehwan was right. He  _ **_was_ ** _ a horrible liar - whether the lie was of omission or not - and he knew that Taemin would pick up on it eventually.  _

_ “Partially. No need to worry about it, it’s just...a lot happened while I was gone and I'm still processing things, I guess,” said Taemin. _

_ “Mm.” Mark looked for a clear spot on the floor and upon finding one, took a seat, crossing his legs.  _

_ Neither of them spoke after that, and while the silence wasn’t horribly awkward, it wasn’t comfortable either. Mark leaned forward to look at a painting that resembled a starry night, with splattered white over the sheet of black. There was a splash of midnight blue at the bottom of the canvas that Mark assumed was long, flowing grass.  _

_ “Mark,” said Taemin. _

_ “Yes?” Mark’s head snapped up. _

_ “Do you ever fear being forgotten?” Taemin questioned. _

_ Being forgotten.  _

_ Mark never really thought about it, if he was being honest. He didn’t join SM for fame. Sure, some considered it a perk, but Mark could go without it. Especially when the further a hero was pushed into the limelight, the more Antis came after them and the more dangerous missions became. All missions would have a certain level of danger, but Mark was interested in directly helping people.  _

_ Fighting off radioactive creatures? Not so much. _

_ Most of the trainees weren’t told the gritty details about working outside of the city, and only more experienced heroes would be sent to the outskirts of the land to deal with the creatures, but Mark knew that it was definitely going to be a path he’d try not to go down. Especially when the threat of the creatures had diminished for the most part leaving the next prevalent issue, Antis, to be dealt with.  _

_ Though nowadays, it was hard to tell. Based on the sectors of the Oasis he had knowledge of, Mark was starting to doubt if there were as many true Antis as SM let on. For a short while, he wondered if it was all a lie to begin with and that any attacks he’d seen were the result of SM-hired illusionists, but there was no faking the property damage and Jaehwan had informed him that Antis still existed and they’d encountered a few in the past - though Jaehwan didn’t give any further detail other than a rhetorical: “How do you think Sanghyuk lost his eye?” _

_ “Well...I guess it depends. I never thought about it much,” Mark answered.  _

_ After a pause, Mark nervously swallowed and brought his hand to rest on the back of his neck, “Do you?” _

_ “Depends...” Taemin lightly traced the path of the stream with his fingers, “I didn’t think I did, but recently I’m not quite sure. I’m having a bit of a dilemma.” _

_ Taemin shifted his weight to his other foot. _

_ “But maybe that isn’t it. Everyone is forgotten, eventually…” Taemin muttered, though it sounded like he was thinking aloud rather than speaking to Mark. _

_ “I don’t think that’s always true…” Mark murmured. _

_ Taemin chuckled, though it was dry and devoid of any joy or fondness. _

_ “Of course you don’t,” Taemin said in one breath, almost too quick for Mark to process, “Did they send you up here?” _

_ “No, they didn’t.” Mark’s eyes narrowed and he restrained himself from making a comment about Taemin’s response. It was unusually cold for Taemin, but Mark couldn’t blame him. _

_ “I was just going to ask if you wanted me to bring your dinner up here or not,” said Mark. _

_ “No, but thank you,” Taemin said. _

_ Mark bit his bottom lip. He didn’t want to force Taemin into speaking but he didn’t want to leave the older stuck without at least one person he’d be comfortable venting to. It wasn’t a surprise that Taemin didn’t spill everything to Mark. If Mark were to guess, he would say that Taemin would be the most comfortable speaking to Kai, but seeing as the last conversation didn’t end well… _

_ “Alright…” Mark rose to his feet and slowly walked to the door, opening it. He placed his hand on the doorknob to close it behind him, then paused, “Well, um…” _

_ Taemin didn’t face him, but a small shift of his head notified Mark of him having the former’s attention.  _

_ “Goodnight,” said Mark. He found it difficult to look directly at Taemin. _

_ The silence grew thick, so Mark released a quiet sigh then closed the door with a quiet click. _

_... _

Mark assumed that that’d be the end of it.

He thought Taemin would close himself off afterward and the efforts to get through to the older man wouldn’t amount to much, but to Mark’s surprise, Taemin had come to him mere hours later, right as he was going to doze off. 

When he had begun to ask if Taemin was alright, Taemin had shushed him and laid a couple of feet away. They didn’t speak after that, but whatever the meaning behind the action was, Mark was just glad that Taemin wasn’t upset enough to avoid him completely. In retrospect, the conversation could’ve gone a lot worse. He wasn’t expecting Taemin to do anything rash like flinging a canvas at his head, but he’d fully prepared himself for Taemin to immediately kick him out. 

_ ‘Nice,’ _ Mark thought.

But really,  _ something _ was digging into his ribcage, probably an elbow. Or Taemin’s wrist. His wrists were always bony so it was hard to tell. Either way, it forced a shallow wheeze out of him and Mark needed to free himself from Taemin’s embrace. 

Mark tried to call Taemin’s name to wake him up, but he didn’t stir. When he tried with Taeyong, the boy simply rolled onto his other side, blissfully unaware of his surroundings. Mark wasn’t one to get jealous, but oh, how he wished he were Taeyong in that moment. 

Must be nice not being squeezed to death first thing in the morning.

He had to get out of there. Maybe if the door was open, he could call one of the VIXX members. With a groan, Mark raised his head and scanned the room. 

“You’re fucking kidding me-” Mark quietly wheezed as he let his head flop back onto the pillow.

Of course with his luck, the door would be closed. Time for plan B... _ was there a plan B? _

God, Mark wished he could just teleport out, but that would require getting out of Taemin’s hold to reach the closet, which brought him back to square one. Resigned to his fate, Mark closed his eyes and sighed.

…

_ “Wait.” _

Mark’s eyes snapped open.

The door was closed. That meant that  _ technically _ the room was now just a closed-off box of sorts, right? 

A box. A  _ capsule. _ Maybe if he focused…

Mark closed his eyes and tried his best to erase Taemin from his thoughts. He zeroed in on his body alone, pretending that the crushing weight was a figment of his imagination. He then focused on the shape of the room, it was nothing but a box. 

Just a box.

His mind then traveled to the other locations of the house. There was the wardrobe...but something prevented him from making a connection. It must’ve been more full than usual.  Mark changed the destination, huffing in relief when the new capsule didn’t present as much stuffiness - it was like opening a door in the muggy heat as opposed to a fresh breeze.

Satisfied, Mark focused all of his energy and let himself sink into the small portal beneath him.

…

It was dark when Mark opened his eyes. 

He’d successfully moved to  _ somewhere.  _ Hopefully, it was the right place. Mark attempted to stretch his neck, seeing as he was somewhat curled up now, but his head hit solid wood, forcing him to suppress a pained grunt.

Mark remained still for a moment, only moving his hands to see if anything else was in the capsule. His fingertips met glass - bottles, he could guess based on the shape - and something covered by a towel. He ran his hand along the edge, and his breath hitched when he felt the clasp on the box. If he wasn’t mistaken, which he seriously hoped he wasn’t, that was the box of throwing knives.

Before he could linger on it for too long, the doors to the cabinet swung open and he squinted as his eyes adjusted to the light. A brief wave of fear caused his heart to flutter, only to immediately subside when the two fuzzy figures made themselves clear. 

Jaehwan, who hardly looked awake himself, stood next to Taekwoon, towering over Mark. Jaehwan slapped his hand over his face and dragged it down, exasperated.

“Ah, it’s just you.” Jaehwan raised his brows and slunk to a stool by the island, heavily plopping down on it.

Mark blinked, caught in disbelief, and then gradually, manic laughter bubbled from his gut and escaped him. He gasped to catch his breath but hit his head against the bottom of the sink again. Taekwoon stared at him, his dagger clutched in his hand but the twitch of his eye gave away his mild confusion.

“Why...why are you laughing?” Taekwoon questioned.

“I did it! Oh my god, I did it,” Mark exclaimed before bursting into another fit of laughter.

Taekwoon shared a look with Jaehwan, though the latter just shrugged and offered Mark a thumbs up. 

“Were you struggling to use your ability before?” Taekwoon’s grip loosened marginally, “It’d make sense but…” Taekwoon trailed off, looking between Mark and Jaehwan.

“Oh! No, no. Well, a bit but not necessarily,” Mark said, moving aside the bottles of alcohol so he could exit the cabinet.

“Okay, so like, I was stuck because Taemin was laying on me, right? So I was like, ‘I gotta get out of here because I can’t breathe’ but I couldn’t get to the closet,” Mark rose to his feet and began placing the bottles back where they originally were, “But then, I realized that I can teleport as long as there’s a capsule, and technically, a closed room is just a large capsule. I don’t know why I never tried it before, well, I guess I didn’t think I could actually do it, but yeah.” Mark took a deep inhale, catching his breath from the long ramble.

“Nice job, dude. Does it count if all of the entrances to the house are closed off?” Jaehwan asked.

“Maybe, I don’t know. But it did take more out of me than usual, so I think I have to work on it more to get used to it,” said Mark.

“Mn. Don’t strain yourself. You might end up in someone else’s house and that wouldn’t be any good,” said Taekwoon.

Taekwoon placed his dagger on the counter and returned to preparing the vegetables that were set on the counter. 

“Yeah.” Mark grimaced.

He still wasn’t sure what he’d done in a past life to have as much luck as he did, opening a portal into the VIXX base as opposed to anywhere else, but he certainly wasn’t complaining.  Mark scooted around Taekwoon and sat at the island across from Jaehwan.

“Backtracking a bit, it seems like you were able to get through to Taemin,” said Jaehwan.

“Not exactly...unless I did somehow, I don’t know,” Mark responded, receiving a puzzled hum from Jaehwan in return.

“He didn’t seem up to talking, but at some point afterward he came in to sleep, so I don’t know, but I guess that’s a good sign,” Mark said, raising his tone at the end of the sentence in a questioning manner.

“Better than being ignored,” Taekwoon said as he pushed aside a pile of diced tomatoes with his knife.

“Yeah,” Mark agreed.

“So...seeing as his mood has improved…” Jaehwan began with a mischievous grin slowly spreading across his face.

“I..uh, I don’t think it has,” Mark commented.

“Whatever. Seeing as he’s not as distant as yesterday, we should proceed with the  _ plan _ today,” Jaehwan said.

“What plan?” Taekwoon asked.

“You’ll see. I’m going to wait until after the press conference before setting it in motion though,” said Jaehwan.

“Alright…” Taekwoon said, eyes narrowed in suspicion, “Whatever it is, make sure nobody gets hurt.”

“Gotcha,” said Jaehwan with a wink. 

Taekwoon scoffed and turned back to the cutting board. Mark bit his lip and glanced at the clock on the wall above the kitchen door. 

A quarter past nine.

Less than two hours before the conference.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We've officially passed 100k! 
> 
> This chapter is a bit short, but two weeks have already passed since the last chapter so I'm uploading anyway. My birthday is coming up in a few days (Feb 18th) so while I already have the next chapter in the works, I'm gonna try to grind a bit more to make up for the day or two I'll spend celebrating. The next chapter will definitely be about double the length of this one.
> 
> It's really funny because when I started this last year, I was expecting it to be like...20k maximum, but here we are lol. I hope you're having a good day, thanks for reading this far!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I'm planning on updating hopefully once a week. Feel free to leave comments and I hope you have a beautiful day :)


End file.
